The True Meaning of Shadow
by Shadow Spirit Dragon-Wolf
Summary: Zorc is winning and Bakura dies but instead of getting sent to the gods to be judged he is confronted and told he has to go back and help save the world along side the Pharaoh and Yugi. Will be out of character, possible romance later on, AU and some bad language, mostly on the part of Bakura.
1. Dying or not

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**OK, this is a random idea I came up with my best friend and it may include some of our created characters and one from our other friend but it is kind of like what would happen if Zorc was winning but Bakura had to go back and help save everyone. Plus Bakura's got a bit of a potty mouth but you're going to have to live with it.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh so there**

**Chapter 1: Dying... or not**

**Bakura's POV**

I smirked down at them all, it was glorious. We were winning and I was happy and yet I only had one thing in my mind. "Zorc."

"What is it?" the great creature asked me, he was my master, the one I've suffered for and worked so hard to set free, but somehow it felt almost... wrong.

"I just want to... I've had my revenge, I don't care what you do to this world, I just want to leave it," I told him and he seemed to sigh. Did great evil monsters sigh?

"Very well," he said and so I felt him crush the last bit of life I had, it was painful but I didn't care, I didn't even care if I was eaten by Ammit, I just didn't care about anything anymore because there was nothing to care about. I had nothing, no family, no friends, no nothing so there was no reason to care if I died or not and I'd already figured I'd be swallowed by Ammit years ago.

"What are you doing?" a voice asked and I jumped up to see a woman looking at me as if I was crazy, which I probably was.

"What do you mean, I'm dying, that's what I'm doing," I reply annoyed, why couldn't I just get this over with. She laughed! How dare she laugh at me!

"Oh no you're not," she said.

"Why the hell not?" I asked annoyed, I just wanted to die, wasn't that easy enough, wasn't that what they all wanted anyway, so why was I being stopped.

"Because, first off; you don't even know your name, and second; you still have things you have to do," she replied.

"I do know my name it's Baku-," I started but she cut me off before I could finish. Who did she think she was anyway!

"No, no, no, I mean your real name, that is just the name you took for yourself when you met your host," she smiled at me. "You need your real name, just like the Pharaoh did."

"What the hell, well fuck it, I don't care, and what is this about I still have something to do?" I asked annoyed at this woman, who the hell was she?

"You are needed to defeat Zorc," she told me. What the hell? Why would I want to do that? I set him free so why would I destroy him?

"I don't care," I told her and I didn't, if she was implying I work with that blasted Pharaoh then I wasn't going to do anything of the sort, after all, who the hell did she think I hated with everything I had, I hated him so much that I couldn't think of anything else sometimes.

"I know you don't, but that is not the point, you are needed and you will help," she told me and I glared at her.

"Who do you think you are going around ordering me?" I asked annoyed, I didn't care, I wasn't going to help anyone.

"You know who I am, if you just think about it," the woman said and I continued to glare at her, I didn't care who she was anyway.

"Whatever, look, I don't want to help the asshole Pharaoh so you can just go back to whichever place you came from and leave me alone," I replied angrily.

"But I can't," she replied this was annoying me greatly. "You need to fulfill your destiny but I don't think I'll be able to convince you of this-."

"No one will so they shouldn't try," I said, I didn't know if she was annoyed that I interrupted her, I almost wanted her to be, maybe then she'd leave me.

"I wouldn't be so sure, but I'll let her tell you all about it," she said and she vanished. I was glad for a bit until another person came out. I was a bit surprised to see that this person was a child, maybe about nine or ten. What could a little child do?

"What do you want?" I asked her and she walked straight up to me, she didn't even look surprised that I talked to her like that.

"I want to talk to you," she replied simply. That wasn't surprising but it was annoying that she only said that for now.

"What the hell about, why can't you people just let me die?" I asked annoyed, it seemed like when I lived everyone wanted me dead and now that I was dead everyone wanted me alive.

"Listen, even if I have the body of a child doesn't mean I have the mind of a child," she said giving me a look. I was a bit surprised at that.

"Who do you think you're talking too!" I scream at her, I was the King of Thieves and I wasn't going to be spoken too that way.

"I don't care who you are! I just care that you go back to life and fix what you did!" she yelled back, I was sure this wasn't going to end well, but I was good at fighting; Zorc taught me well.

"I don't have to fix anything!" I yelled back.

"Oh, and what about Ryou?" she asked, I was a little surprised to hear the name of my host. why did she care about him?

"What about him?"

"What about him! Are you crazy? You. Owe. Him. Big. Time!" she said slowly, what did she think I was, a child.

"Like hell I do!" I yelled back, I didn't owe anyone anything, it was one of the things I made sure to never do, make commitments with people, unless it was killing people like the blasted Pharaoh.

"Yes you do! Don't you know what you did to him! You took over his body whenever you wanted for Ra knows how many years! You sealed his friends into game pieces so he had to move around and didn't think he could get close to anyone! You physically hurt him to further your goals and you only saved him so you would be able to carry on! I'd say you owe him a lot," she told me.

"I don't care," I replied but that as the wrong thing to say because she hit me! She smacked me hard and it actually hurt! Why would it hurt if I was dead? "What the hell?"

"You don't care! You don't care!" she screamed at me, she may have been in a child body but she looked somehow scary right now.

"No, and there's nothing you can do about it," I replied. Yet, why did I feel like something was wrong, like I was missing something?

"You are just... I...," she said, I don't know what she wanted to tell me but she didn't seem to know either so she did the second best thing it seemed. She hit me again but this time she kept hitting me. Why was it hurting, and why was I not able to dodge as well as I should? I was the best thief in all of Egypt damn it!

"Do you know who I am? I am the king of thieves!" I said as I tried to fight back, why did everything feel so heavy? Why did I feel so tired?

"I know who you are," she said laughing. What was she laughing at? "If you are wondering, the angrier you get the weaker you are here, I'm stronger because I love and I fight to protect."

"Oh don't start with me! Love is useless and a weak emotion, it is not important!" I replied loudly, it occurred to me that she had calmed down considerably but I was still very angry.

"Zorc really has poisoned your mind hasn't he," she said, was she being sympathetic? I didn't need her sympathy but I did take that opportunity to try and punch her, but I missed.

"He hasn't poisoned my mind, he showed me the truth and you better not be feeling sorry for me!" I roared trying to hit her, she was dodging really well.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you never to hit a girl," she said with a smile as she grabbed one of my arms, twisted and then threw me to the ground, where she pinned me.

"Get off me," I growled but not as loudly as I had before, I really did feel quite weak and I didn't know why but I did know I didn't like it. Especially since she didn't even seem to be winded.

"No, shut up and listen," she replied. It was strange, I tried to move but she was stronger than me. How the hell was a kid her age stronger than me!

"Fine, seeing as I have no choice," I replied and she smiled at me! Damn it! She knew I had no choice, I hate having to do what others want.

"If you promise to stay here and not do anything I'll let you up," she told me and I smirked, since when did a thief ever keep a promise?

"Fine," I said and she looked down at me for a bit as if trying to decide if she believed me or not. She then stood up and sat down across from me. I sat up a bit after but somehow I couldn't go farther than that. "What the hell?"

"I'm not an idiot you know," she told me with a laugh. "Look around you, oh mighty King of Thieves." I growled as she was clearly mocking me, but I did look around myself. It was a strange place that seemed to stretch on forever, kind of like the shadow realm but I could tell it wasn't. It seemed slightly lighter for one thing and black and white seemed to mix into one.

"How is this supposed to tell me anything?" I asked her but she didn't answer my question, which greatly annoyed me until the place shifted and she smiled again, I really hated the smile.

"I command this place, mostly, I've lived here for a long time, ever since the day I died," she replied looking at me. "I could have moved on to the afterlife but I decided to stay behind."

"Why the hell would you want to do that?" I asked, I was truly curious, after all, she seemed to be alone here and... what the hell was I thinking? I didn't care about her!

"Because I didn't want to move on, I've been waiting and I've been watching," she replied. Who was she anyway? "But enough about me, you're the one who's important here."

"And why's that?' I asked her, I hated how she wasn't telling me who she was but it didn't matter, why would she matter to me?

"Simple, because you have to save everyone," she told me with a smile; god how I hated that damn smile, I wanted to jump up and smack it right off her face but I couldn't, it almost felt as if there was actually rope holding me in place.

"I don't want to save everyone! I let Zorc free because I wanted revenge and I don't care about the world!" I shouted.

"Really? So your hatred for _one _person is worth the destruction of the whole world?" she asked me and I glared at her, what would she understand about it? "And it's sad really, you weren't even going after the right man."

"I told you not to pity me!" I shouted. "Besides, what do you know about it? How would you know anything about this?"

"Honestly, you'd think feeling sorry for someone is a curse or something," she said to me and I wanted to smack her again.

"No it's not... it's just... weakness," I replied.

"You don't sound so sure about that," she told me.

"Of course I am!" I replied but she was right, I wasn't really sure anymore, even if I had let Zorc free, he had destroyed me to do it so... was it really... I had to stop having these thoughts, damn her.

"Well, think about it, the Pharaoh didn't have a clue what he was getting himself into, now granted he probably should have asked his brother what the cost would be but still, it was the high priest who actually did the killing, besides, the Pharaoh of the puzzle was way too young. So he would not have known anything," she replied calmly and I opened my mouth to retort but she cut me off. "Don't even start with this 'sine of the father' crap, I don't want to hear it."

"I'm hated him for five thousand years, I can't just go back now," I replied, I almost wanted to say I'd help just so she'd shut up, if I was back to life would she be able to do anything about what I do? She said she had been watching but she hadn't done anything before.

"Revenge? Did it really get you anywhere, you're dead and he's still alive," she told me and I glared at her again.

"He will die, and I asked to die," I growled, this was pointless, it didn't matter what she said, I was not going back and that was it.

"Everyone dies, Bakura, but you did give up your life and yet you are not fully dead, and you could only die because Zorc let you, if he didn't you would still be a part of him as he used your soul to come back to life, as for the Pharaoh, when he dies he will be remembered so his memory will never truly die," she told me.

"So now this is about me making a name for myself, for being remembered by foolish people with their stupid emotions," I replied.

"Listened to me, half of this is because no one remembers your village, or have _you_ forgotten about Kul Elna," she told me and I tried to jump up and strangle her, I was that angry.

"How dare you! What the hell do you know about it! You know nothing!" I roared, I couldn't move but I could still yell and I was going to.

"Enough!" she shouted and for some unknown reason I shut up. What the hell was wrong with me? I didn't care so why was I even listening to her? "Now, can I explain without you being a major ass?"

"It won't a make a difference," I told her but for that exact reason I was silent, I wished I could fold my arms but I couldn't so I just settled for glaring at her instead.

"Thank you. Listen, I know what happened to your village and I didn't mean to use it against you like that. It's just that I'm so angry. The truth is that if you die the village will die and to be honest, they need you... don't give me that look, you said I could explain myself and I will. I'm no god but I have seen some things and I know how some things will have to play out, and you, you need to save them from the items for only you can," she told me. I was shocked.

"What?" I asked, OK, that was real intelligent, she was probably lying to me but I just couldn't help but believe every word she said.

"You need two things, one thing is the items, and no, not just you with one, you need seven holders, well technically fourteen since there is a Hikari and Yami pair for each but you'll figure out how that works later, and the second thing you need is your name," she told me.

"Why the hell is my name that important anyway?" I asked, I thought the Pharaoh was the only one with a name that meant something.

"Listen, Zorc convinced Akunadin to create the items and he used a name in order to keep the souls trapped because that made Zorc stronger, the name he used was yours which is why he convinced you to change it," she told me.

"Even if I did agree they would never accept me, I'm pretty sure that the Pharaoh and his chibi will be the holder of the Puzzle and they aren't going to want to see me again, and I doubt my host will ever want to look at me," I told her with a glare

"That's why you need to make up!" she roared, apparently Ryou was a touchy subject for her and I still didn't know why.

"Why do you care so much about that wimp," I growled at her hoping she would tell me but she punched me again, I really have to stop getting punched, my body feels like led.

"Wimp? Don't call Ryou a wimp! You've treated him like crap and he still tried to help you, yes he saved his friends but he also tried to see the best in you," she told me, I was surprised a bit by that.

"You're lying! Ryou was working with the Pharaoh! If he cared he wouldn't have helped that son of a bitch!" I bellowed furious.

"It's always black and white to you isn't it? You think everything is clear, that a person is on one side of another but that isn't true. It is true that Ryou chose his friends over his tormentor the same time, he used the last of his power to overt his own attack in order to give you a second chance; the Pharaoh doesn't know about that but I saw it," she told me. I didn't remember that happening.

"Wait, if he used the last of his energy...," I said trailing off. What the hell? Why was I caring about the wimp? He didn't matter. Did he?

"Nope, one of the priests gave him the power to keep going, Yugi and Marik wondered what he had done but neither of them really pushed the subject very far," she told me with a sigh.

"If I say no, will I be left alone?"

"Nope."

"Am I ever going to move on until this is over?

"No."

"Do I truly have a choice?"

"Not at all."

"Damn it, fine, I'll go back but I won't make friends, maybe allies but not friends," I told her and she smiled at me.

"It's a start. I'm going to be helping you, you can get Diabound back but it might take a while, though I will be mostly in the form of a Duel Monster I will help you."

"Before we go, I have one last question," I said and she nodded as if already knowing what I wanted to ask. "Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Amane," she told me as she reached out her hand to help me up, my body felt lighter somehow but that was not at the forefront of my mind for now I knew who I was talking too and it all made sense, this girl, she was Ryou's sister!

**So what do you think about it, I feel sorry for Bakura but I had to do it because he really was being used and he refuses to see it, there will be a change of heart but it will be gradual and Amane is going to play a slightly big role. One of my friends is saying I should do Lateshipping (Amane and Bakura). I don't know, though it might work seeing as Amane is only in the body of a child and may learn to take a older form but I might not.**


	2. The First Pair

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Hurray, I like this story even if there aren't that many people who are reading it, I don't care, still, I don't know if I'm going to get to it but there may be blood, violence, death, bad words (Ok, that is a warning for all chapters) and mentions of rape.**

**Chapter 2: The first pair**

**Bakura's POV**

Amane and I landed on the ground but she was no longer a nine year old girl. She had changed and now she was in what I assumed was the form of her Ka. _"Bakura."_ I jumped, it seemed she could talk to me in my mind.

"What?" I asked out loud, it seemed I was still where I died but no one else was there now, we were in Egypt.

_"We can talk mentally you know," _she informed me and I rolled my eyes at her, which only caused her to smack me over the head with her tail.

_"Alright, well, if we need to find the Hikari and Yami pairs then I think we should start with Marik,"_ I said after a pause, picking myself off from the ground.

_"Good plan, I can sense that Marik is in Egypt, actually he is quite close, but Malik is still trapped, you'll need Marik to get him back,"_ she told me and I blinked a bit as we started to walk.

_"Wait a second, if Malik is in the shadow realm, won't he be a bloody murdering psychopath?"_ I asked, I still didn't like this whole saving the world thing, but it seemed I didn't have a choice.

_"That is what you need Marik for,"_ she told me and then I noticed something, the Ring wasn't around my neck anymore.

_"Does Ryou have the Ring?"_ I asked her changing the subject slightly but it would help in bringing Malik back.

_"No, the items are scattered, you will need to search for them but you can only find them after you find the Hikari and Yami pairs,"_ she told me and I frowned annoyed at the prospect of not having my favorite item back. _"You seem a lot calmer than a few minutes ago."_

_"I guess... wait a few minutes! How the hell could this have only taken a few minutes?" _I asked and she sighed a bit as if disappointed that I lost my cool so easily.

_"So touchy, but I suppose that is to be expected... well, to answer your question, it only took a few minutes in that realm, in the normal would it was more like a year,"_ she told me and I stopped in my tracks.

_"A year? And what the hell do you mean it's to be expected?" _I asked looking straight at her for the first time since we left the realm.

_"First, you will understand the true relationship between Hikari and Yami soon enough so don't worry too much about it for now. As for the year, yes, our realm works differently than the mortal one. I would say look around you but Egypt has always looked kind of bleak," _she told me and I frowned slightly, though things did seem a bit darker than they normally were.

_"Can you find Marik?"_ I asked her as she seemed to be leading the way, or was I? I really didn't know right now. I wished she'd tell me things instead of just being vague about these things.

_"Not completely, you need to get Marik, Malik, Ryou, Yami and Yugi before you can find the other holders, I can point you in the right direction but I can only sense them when they are close. But remember, even if you don't have the Ring you still are connected to its power. Don't try calling it, it won't work, but you may be able to find the others if you really concentrate,"_ she told me and I did feel a strange feeling like I knew where I was going.

_"What about Diabound, you said I was going to be able to summon him, but I don't think it'll work, I can't feel him,"_ I said and it was true, I missed the feeling of my Ka, I had gotten used to it.

_"Well, you can't summon him now, you will be able to summon him but you have to wait,"_ she told me. Ra damn it, I wanted my Ka!

_"That's crap,"_ I told her and she laughed, I still hated when she did that to me. Why did she find what I said so amusing anyway?

_"It's how it is,"_ she replied. I could somehow tell we were nearing Marik and I wondered how my former partner in crime would take me being back. I know he had been evil once but he had changed a lot since Battle City and it was a year since I had last seen him.

"Marik! Get over here and help me!" I heard Marik's older sister, Ishizu, call and I turned to where I heard the voice.

"I'm coming!" that was Marik, he didn't sound different but that didn't make much of a difference to me.

_"Well, go say hi, I will be waiting for you,"_ Amane told me and she vanished. I cursed her but if she heard me she paid no attention. I sighed and walked up to the door and knocked.

"I'll get it," I heard Marik say and then a yelp from him.

"No you won't," I heard Ishizu say.

"Why not, why don't you get Odion to help you?" he asked her and she sighed loudly at her little brother, I knew he could be annoying.

"Fine," she said and I heard footsteps coming towards the door. I knew that whatever they were doing had stopped, all three of them were going to find out who was at the door.

_"Things aren't that great right now, they need to be careful, if it's one of Zorc's people bad things will happen, especially since Marik is a Hikari and Ishizu was once an Item Bearer."_ Amane told me, apparently she wasn't too far away.

"Who is it?" I heard Marik's voice say, he didn't open the door and I assumed it was locked, and probably with a chain as well so anyone who could pick locks wouldn't be able to get in.

"If you knew that you wouldn't like it," I replied. What else was I supposed to say. I couldn't pretend to be Ryou, that wouldn't solve anything, plus, I think Amane would get angry if I did. Even though I still don't care about her!

"B-Bakura, is that you?" he asked a bit surprised to hear my voice after this long. I was sure he wasn't too happy and I was also sure that now Ishizu and Odion were really paying attention.

"Yes, it is, now let me in, it's important," I told him, I didn't know what else to say, I didn't care if he wanted me there or not.

"How about no, I may have worked with you once but I'm not that kind of person anymore so just go back and die," Marik replied.

"Don't you think I've tried that! I can't fucking die! I'm trying to save the world, but I need you to help me!" I yelled, I didn't care what he thought, I had to work with him and there was nothing Marik could do about it. Though I'm sure he would be even more angry once I tell him that he needs to bring back his Yami.

"Oh right, like I'd believe that!" Marik shouted at me. "I'm not an idiot you know! I wouldn't let you in! I know you're working for Zorc!"

"Not anymore, why do you think I've been gone for a year! I wanted to die but I couldn't! And I don't want to work with you any more than you want to work with me!" I yelled back. Why did I have to convince him first, though I guess the Pharaoh would be harder to convince.

"How the hell am I supposed to know! I don't care if you are eaten by Ammit! Just get the hell away from my family!" Marik yelled at me and I wanted to walk away, I really did just want to leave him there to die but I didn't.

"Look! I've _tried_ to die but I can't! I have to be here to save the world and I hate it but I don't have a choice!" I roared, this was getting ridiculous, why the hell couldn't he just accept that I was here to help. Plus, if this is how bad he is now, how the hell am I going to get him to retrieve Malik?

_"Bakura, you can't just yell at him, it doesn't help anything, you have to do this nicely. Haven't you learned that ordering people around doesn't work?"_ Amane asked me, I almost forgot she was there.

"Marik," I said taking a deep breath to calm myself down. "I really don't mean you or your family harm, I know you aren't happy to see me and you won't be happy about what I have to tell you but you have to listen and you have to trust me."

_"Bakura, you need to apologize,"_ she said to me, I was annoyed, why couldn't she do all of this whole thing, it would be so much easier.

_"Fine,"_ I groaned, I don't think I've ever said sorry before but still, I guess there was a first time for everything, even though there as a last too. "Marik... I... I'm... sorry."

"Pardon," Marik said and I growled through the door as I did not want to repeat myself, it was not as bad as I thought it would be but I still didn't want to say it again.

"You heard me Ishtar, I'm not saying it again," I spit out annoyed at him, I know he heard what I said and I don't know why he tried to make me say it twice.

"Are you going to leave me alone if I don't let you in?" he asked me and I shake my head even if he can't see that.

"No, I can't do that," I replied, I wanted to so badly but I knew I had to do this and somehow I think that Marik knew too, he was just denying it as much as I was.

"Well, fine, but don't make me regret this," Marik said and I sighed a bit, it seemed we'd both calmed down a bit. Everyone was probably on edge, I just wonder how the Pharaoh was going to react to me being back.

_"Sort out one problem at a time, Bakura,"_ Amane told me as I heard the door be unlocked and then open. Marik didn't look much different than when I last saw him. We looked at each other for a while and I was almost wondering if he was going to slam the door in my face.

"Come in then," he said stepping aside. I saw Odion watching me and I gave him a look. I didn't care about the two other people, it was only Marik who was important but I knew I had to be nice. "So what is so important?"

"Listen, you're going to hate me-," I started but the damn Tomb-Keeper interrupted me. Who the hell did he think he was?

"I already hate you," he said and I wanted to punch him but I knew that was stupid so I just gave him a look instead.

"I know, but you're going to hate me more after you heard what I have to tell you," I told him and he looked at me as if telling me to go on. "We're going to have to get your Yami from the shadow realm."

"What the hell! What in the name of Ra are you thinking? I can't get Malik! He'd kill us all!" Marik yelled and he punched me. Seriously, why does everyone have to punch me? I want to punch him back but I can't because I feel strange.

_"Yami aren't supposed to hurt Hikari, Bakura, they are supposed to protect them,"_ I heard Amane tell me. I was puzzled at this.

_"I had no trouble hurting Ryou before, and Malik almost killed Marik,"_ I replied knowing that this was one of the reasons Marik wouldn't help his dark half.

_"Things are different now, Bakura, you cannot hurt them anymore, as for Malik, Marik can calm him down but he needs to believe in himself,"_ Amane replied.

_"Why can't you tell him this if you're so smart?"_ I asked her angrily, I was getting fed up with how she seemed to be using me.

_"It is hard enough to talk with you, Zorc is making this nearly impossible and talking to two of you would make him be able to find us, also, if you tell them about me he will realize what is going on, which is why I cannot take human form right now,"_ she replied with a sigh, I wondered if it hurt her to not be able to show herself to her brother.

"Hey Bakura, are you in there?" I heard Marik ask as he waved his hand in front of my face. I growled but that was all I could do, she was right; I couldn't hurt him.

"What is it?" I asked him, if he wasn't going to get Malik and help us save the world then I didn't want to hear it.

"I was just wondering what you were doing, you spaced out and I hardly doubt you were talking to Ryou," Marik replied.

"We will need to find my Hikari, but I wasn't talking to him, I was talking to someone else and she says you can handle your Yami," Bakura replied.

"I don't know if I can! He's insane! He was created out of my hate! That's all he is! Hatred!" he yelled at me and I wanted to yell back.

"No he's not!" I yelled back, how in the hell did I even know more about Marik's Yami than he did? I mean, he lived with him in his head for years.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked me annoyed, we were just facing each other, his lavender eyes boring into my dark brown eyes as we seemed to be trying to see what the other was thinking. I was wondering if he was also trying to see if I was lying or not.

"How about we just try this, if it is clear that Malik won't listen to reason then we'll leave him, I might be able to mold the shadows so he can't actually get to us," I said sighing slightly, if what Amane said was true then Malik wouldn't be able to hurt Marik either, though myself was another story.

"OK," Marik said putting his head down as if accepting that he had no choice in the matter. Just like I had to save the world.

"Marik, no, you can't," Ishizu said, I almost forgot the two of them were in the room and we both looked at them.

"I'm sorry guys, I have to," Marik said, I knew now that he knew it was destiny, I think he was angry too but I know he wanted to stop Zorc.

_"Don't you feel it Bakura?"_ Amane asked me and I was puzzled. What in the name of Ra was I supposed to feel?

_"What are you talking about?"_ I asked her and she laughed, for once I didn't get angry. The hell, was I getting soft?

_"Well, don't you feel empty, each Yami and Hikari are linked and when one is missing the other feels like they aren't whole," _she explained to me.

_"I don't know,"_ I replied, I hadn't really thought about it. Then I turned back to Marik who was looking at me again, obviously he had been speaking to his siblings.

"So, how are we going to do this?" he asked me and I was as confused as he was. Wouldn't messing with the shadows alert Zorc?

_"You obviously can't do it here then, you need to get out. First off, there are some places that Zorc can not actually get to right now. You will have to go there, but once you've gotten Malik we'll have to leave, I'll handle it,"_ she told me.

_"Stop being vague and give me a straight answer already!"_ I yelled at her in my mind, I was getting fed up with how she was not giving me all the information I needed.

_"I would tell you to ask nicely but we don't have time to mess around, the sooner we can get Malik the sooner we can help the others, I feel they will be in danger soon. You aren't going to like where I would suggest but it will give you enough shelter and it is close to here, or relative to any others that I know of. It is a place you are familiar with... it's your old home, Kul Elna,"_ she told me. I gasped hearing the name of my old home, I must have done it audibly because Marik was looking at me odd.

"What's up with you Bakura?" he asked me and then seemed to think for a bit." Not that I really care about you."

"It doesn't matter if you care or not, but I know where we have to go and how we have to get Malik back, but we have to leave here," I told him, I was sure he had really been genuinely concerned.

"Wait, why do we have to go somewhere else?" he asked me and I rolled my eyes at him. What kind of question was that?

"First of all, if we do it here Zorc will find us easily and then your siblings will be in danger, where we are going it will be harder for him to detect us going into the shadow realm.

"I guess that makes sense, but why are there places where we would be safe from his detection?" Marik asked curious.

"Not safe but safer, from what I understand it is because where we are going is protected. You see, we have to go back to Kul Elna, my old home, and it seems the spirits will protect us from his detection for enough time for us to get Malik out of the shadow realm, they're still stuck in the Items but apparently it is my job to get them out," I replied to him as I started to walk towards the door.

"Alright," he said. I didn't know if he really believed everything I said, because I don't know if I believe everything I just said but somehow it felt right and somehow it was just how it had to be.

"So how are we supposed to get to your village, you sound like you want to move fast, though I suppose we could get horses," Marik said as we stood outside his house.

"We don't need horses," I replied as I saw Amane appear and land in front of the two of us. I jumped on and turned to Marik. "Are you coming?"

"Is that a Duel Monster? I've never seen one like it before," he told me and I sighed as he climbed onto her back.

"It's a she and she is a Ka, I guess because she was never sealed Pegasus never saw what she looked like," I replied as she took off towards my old home. The ride was silent as we flew, the two of us left in our own thoughts.

"Wow, is that?" Marik asked as we finally arrived. It probably only took us a few minutes but it felt like hours to me. I looked over the ruined houses, things hadn't really changed since that day, though I was happy, I really didn't really want some archeologists coming in, digging things up and then trying to rebuild the village, it wouldn't be fair to the people who died.

"Yes, this is Kul Elna," I replied as I got off her and started walking, I knew the best place to go, the cave where the Millennium Stone was. "Are you coming?"

"Oh yeah, right, sorry," he said as he followed me, I noticed Amane just waiting but I decided I didn't care what she did unless she got us caught. We walked into the cave heading towards the Stone.

"Wow, you know, I've never seen the Stone before," he told me and I turned to him a little surprised, I thought for sure he would have.

"Really? Well, I sure have, it brings back so many memories, but now isn't the time. We should sit down and concentrate," I was tempted to sit on the Stone but thought better of it, I sat on one side and he sat across from me. We closed our eyes and concentrated hard on the power we knew existed all around us. I felt something cold brush against my leg and I somehow knew it was a spirit guarding us while we entered the realm of shadows.

"So, how do we find him?" Marik asked and I looked at him, we stood in the same place but of course, we were no longer in the normal realm.

"I don't know, he's your Yami, you have a connection," I told him and he screwed up his face in concentration, I felt that was a little overboard.

"Malik? Malik can you hear me?" he called into the darkness that surrounded us, I didn't know if it would work or what would happen when it did but I just hoped that Amane was right about this.

"So my wonderful Hikari-pretty decided to come visit me?" a voice asked and we both looked at each other, it was Malik alright and he still seemed insane.

"Malik, show yourself!" Marik ordered him, I was a bit shocked at how bold he was seeing as he had seemed a little scared to be getting his Yami.

"Oh come on, don't talk to me like that," Malik whined but he still came out of the shadows and looked at us. He didn't have the eye of Horus glowing on his forehead and he didn't seem as crazy so that was an improvement, which was strange because the shadow realm was supposed to drive people crazy.

_"No Bakura, it is supposed to show people their flaws and if they can learn from it and overcome those flaws they can get out,"_ Amane told me, apparently she could still talk to me.

"Hello Bakura, it's nice to see you again," he said to me and I knew he didn't mean it. I realized that, even if he couldn't hurt Marik, he could hurt me.

"Malik," I said simply as I looked at Marik. I wanted to tell him to hurry up and make his Yami a nice person but it would only make him get annoyed which would not help our situation.

"Malik, listen to me," Marik said and Malik looked at him, they were so alike and yet so different from each other like Ryou and I were. Why was I thinking so much about Ryou?

"What is it, Marik?" Malik wanted to know, the fact that he hadn't tried to hurt us yet was also a good thing, maybe the shadow realm had helped him. Well, he had been in there for a couple of years.

"Listen... if you promise to behave and not go psycho on all my friends I will get you out of here, we need you to help us beat Zorc but I can't have you going around killing my friends," Marik said and Malik seemed to think about this.

"I know you wouldn't come here unless you needed something from me, but you must be desperate to come here for me," Malik replied.

"We aren't desperate, apparently we need you to help save the world," I told him with a sigh as he looked at me.

"You're trying to save the world? Weren't you trying to destroy it a while ago?" he asked me and I glared at him.

"I was, but then I wanted to die and was told I can't die because I had to save the world and you have to help us do it," I replied.

"Malik please, I... I know we haven't been great... I mean... you tried to kill me and all but... I kind of miss... I mean, it's weird, it's like I'm not whole without you and ... I just... we need your help," Marik said and I looked at him, it was clear that now we were here it all came out. I felt it too, the loneliness of missing your other half. Damn it, I really am going soft!

"Marik," he said quietly, I didn't know what to think about the change that he was exhibiting. If I thought he looked different when we first saw him he seemed to get less, crazy by the second. It was working and I don't even know what it is.

"Malik, will you help us?" Marik asked reaching his hand out to his Yami as I looked around, I knew that we didn't have much time; it was now or never.

"Yes," Malik said and grabbed the hand of his light half, I growled as we felt the realm shake. I looked up at the two.

"We have to get out now!" I shouted at them and they nodded. Marik and I broke our concentration hoping that Malik would come with us. When I opened my eyes I saw Malik sitting in the middle of the Stone with a strange look on his face.

"It worked, hey, Marik, you OK?" he asked as if he didn't notice me, I felt almost as if that was a good thing.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm guessing we should book it?" he said turning to me and I nodded in agreement so the three of us headed out of the cave where Amane was waiting for us.

"Where are we going next?" Malik wanted to know as the three of us climbed on to Amane's back and she took off.

"Japan," I replied simply as we flew off. "We have to find Ryou, and after that we're going to find Yugi and the Pharaoh."

**I'm done, the warning for this chapter will be for any chapter after it, I felt I was going to have to add Ryou, Yugi and Yami but I didn't so there is none of that, I hope I didn't disappoint you, there will be action next chapter.**


	3. Capture

**The True Meaning of Shadows**

**Here comes some actual fighting, and I feel really sorry for what I'm going to do to Ryou but Bakura needs it to fully realize his mistakes, plus it will be in Bakura's POV unless I say otherwise from now on since I seem to be doing good at that.**

**Chapter 3: Capture**

We flew from Egypt all the way to Japan, It didn't even seem that Amane was tired, though I was too busy looking around just to make sure that Malik wasn't trying to stab me or Zorc was coming out of nowhere to destroy us. We landed and I could feel my Hikari close. I jumped off Amane, the two Ishtars right behind me and I lead the way. "You sure you know where you're going?" Marik asked.

"I can just feel it," I told him as we walked. I then stopped and flattened myself against a tree, I motioned for them to keep silent; I could hear voices coming our way.

"That's what I was told," one person was saying to the other as they walked. I was happy it seemed Malik and Marik knew how to hide themselves.

"I just don't understand this shit about the thief king," I rolled my eyes thinking that that person's guess was as good as mine.

"It doesn't matter, orders are orders now let's go," the first man said and so they were starting to head off, I looked back at the blonds who nodded. We silently agreed to follow the two men.

"I think they're heading towards Ryou," I muttered under my breath low enough for only the two others to hear me.

"Then shouldn't we jump them?" Malik asked me and I sighed not having thought of that, maybe not having Ryou was effecting me.

"Do you have any weapons?" I asked him knowing that he did not. The only thing he'd ever used was the blade inside the Rod and he didn't have it anymore.

"No, you?" he asked me and I shook my head then an idea came to me. I smirked as I crept forward silently.

"What are you up to, Bakura?" Marik asked me quietly as the two Ishtars followed me and I turned to look at him with an annoyed look on my face. Wasn't it obvious?

"We're going to take their weapons of course, but be quiet or they'll hear you," I growled as I moved closer to the men. I glanced at Malik. Honestly, if I was going to kill someone without a weapon I'd much rather have Malik by my side. Though that was a strange thought.

"Did you hear something?" one of them asked as I wanted to swear, I wondered which one of the idiots had made a noise. It didn't matter though.

"Who's there, show yourself," the second person said and I looked back to only see Marik. Where had that damn Yami of his gone? Marik saw me looking and glanced upwards. I followed his gaze and saw Malik standing in a tree grinning. I knew his plan in an instant; he was going to attack from above. I smirked, this was going to be fun.

"Fine!" Malik shouted as he jumped from the trees, successfully landing straight on one of the men, knocking the wind out of him. When the other was distracted I came up from behind and grabbed him, pulling his arms behind his back. Malik was pinning the other guy to the ground. Marik walked up and knelt down by his Yami, grabbing a knife from the pocket of one of the men.

"Marik, are you sure you want to do that," Malik asked and Marik shook his head before shoving the knife at the Yami.

"No, that's why you're going to do it," he told him and I watched as Malik took the knife with a bit of glee and stabbed the man right in the heart, then he jumped up and turned to the other man. He finished him off just as quickly. I almost wished he'd lived back in Ancient Egypt, he'd have been very helpful.

_"Maybe he did,"_ Amane said but this time I decided to ignore her as I fished in the man's pockets to find another knife. I took it for myself and we were able to find some money too and we looked at each other. We had a few blood stains on our clothes now.

"Let's find Ryou," I said and so the three of us left. I felt better now that we were armed. It made me feel way more secure than I had before.

"How's he been anyway?" Malik asked Marik, I wanted to ask that but Malik got there first. I wondered why Malik actually wanted to know but I didn't really feel like bringing it up because then it would look like I cared about him.

"he's been lonely without Bakura but Yugi and I have talked to him as much as we can. I had to go back to Egypt with Ishizu and Odion so I didn't get to see them much but I know Ryou was a bit jealous of Yugi since he still had Yami which is why he didn't want to move in with them when they offered," Marik admitted and I felt bad for some odd reason. After all, it wasn't my fault he was a wimp.

_"How many times must I tell you, my brother is not a wimp!"_ Amane shouted through our mind link and I flinched slightly.

_"Now I know where the guts in your family went to,"_ I retorted and felt a strange sensation in my head as if she was stabbing me from the inside out. _"What the hell are you doing to me?"_

_"Do. Not. Talk. About. My. Brother. Like. That. Again!" _she was really angry and I guess that was her way of hurting me.

"Bakura," Marik said and I blinked and looked at the two of them. Malik was giving me a weird look while Marik's face showed concern. That look was gone really fast though.

"Fine," I replied and we continued walking. We didn't say much to each other as we crept through the forest. For all the things I hated about Japan the dense forest was not one of them. Though I did have to admit, they did seem to be dying. This might have been what Amane had meant before.

"It's over, just give up," we heard someone say and at first we thought the person was talking to us but he wasn't. He wasn't even facing us. I looked past the speaker and saw a circle of people surrounding someone... a very familiar someone.

"Shit," I hissed and the two Ishtars noticed. Malik and I pulled out our knives and looked at each other. Nodding we raced forward to the group of men and started to hack them down in blind rage. Or at least I was angry. Though why I didn't really know.

"Grab the boy," one of the people said before I took him down with my now bloody knife. I wheeled around as I heard a shout. One of them men was holding the person by the hair with a knife to his throat. I couldn't move. I needed to protect him but... if I moved then they would kill him. I couldn't let them kill him. I saw Malik but he wasn't paying enough attention. There was no way to get a sneak attack with his help. I was helpless. And I fucking hate feeling helpless!

"Ba-Bakura," he managed out as he saw me, I wanted to help. I didn't know why I wanted to help but I did and it was killing me to see him look like this.

"Shut up," the man holding him said pushing the knife against his throat causing a small line of blood to drip onto the cool metal. It made me sick! It never made me sick before but that... it was just. I can't even explain what I was feeling at that moment.

"Our master only wants the kid, get out of here," another one of them said before he was killed by the psycho who seemed to notice finally the problem at hand, but the other seemed to have realized that taunting me had gone on long enough because he smirked and jumped into the air where a creature came and he grabbed onto it.

"Ryou!" I yelled but it was too late. I felt so angry now. Would Amane be angry at me? I failed and I hadn't even gotten that far in this. Wait? Since when did I even care? This whole thing was pointless. The proof was right there!

_"Bakura, listen, you need to get Yugi and the Pharaoh, it isn't too late but you must act quickly,"_ Amane said. It snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to the Ishtars. Malik was looking down and Marik was looking at the spot Ryou vanished from.

"We have to find the Pharaoh and his Chibi, they can help us rescue Ryou," I said simply and started off in a random direction.

"Bakura, Yugi still lives in the Game shop, Yami should be there too," he said and I switched course. My Hikari had been there enough for me to know the way.

**Yami's POV**

"Yami, I'm only going out to get the mail, honestly, you're being paranoid," Yugi said and I looked at him. Of course I was worried. I didn't expect Zorc to come knocking but I was sure he had people who could find us, and Bakura probably knew where we lived. Damn him!

"Sorry, Yugi, it's just that I'm worried, it's bad enough that Ryou is by himself," I told him with a sigh. I just didn't want anything to happen to any of them.

"I know, I hope that the others are alright, I mean, I know we're the prime targets but I just worry that they will be hurt because they have a connection to us," he told me and I sighed. We had this conversation every day. If Bakura hadn't let Zorc free Yugi wouldn't have to save the world.

"Just go get the mail," I told him with a sigh. I don't know why I was so worried. It has been a year since anything has really happened so I don't know what Zorc was doing but it was taking him a while.

"Alright," he said and walked out of the room. I had planned on telling him we should move but he didn't want to leave his Grandpa. I didn't want to leave Grandpa either to be honest.

_"I just hope everything will work out fine,"_ I thought to myself flipping through cards as it seemed to help me think straight. I guess it was just something normal to do.

"Yami!" I heard Yugi scream from outside and I rushed outside. Even though Yugi would never use one I'd taken to carrying a knife around, just in case. I had to admit, some of Bakura's habits could be good.

"Yugi, are you OK?" I asked which was a stupid question seeing as there were people surrounding him with knives. I was worried so I went up and stood next to him. I glared at all of them, daring them to attack. There were only about three of them but I still didn't worry about it.

"Pharaoh! Behind you!" I heard a voice yell. Was that Bakura? I didn't have much time to register the shout before I saw a flash of silver and I felt a weight plow into me causing me to fall over. "Ra damn it all!"

"Bakura? What the hell?" I asked as I saw him over me looking annoyed. I then noticed why he'd cursed. He had a deep gash on his left arm and it was bleeding profusely. I turned to see that there were now four people and my mind registered what had happened. Someone had come up from behind and Bakura had saved my life but got hurt from it. "Yugi!"

"Don't worry, you're little Yugi is safe," I heard another familiar voice and I saw Marik and Malik walk into my line of sight. Yugi was right next to them. Bakura moved off of me and clutched his arm not wanting to show weakness probably. I stared at Malik.

"Why did you two save us?" I asked looking from Malik, who had blood on him but it seemed none of it was his. Then to Bakura who looked ready to faint. In fact, he did faint. I moved quickly. Why in the name of Ra was I helping my enemy? Maybe I felt I owed him for saving my life.

**Bakura's POV**

I groaned as I woke up from fainting. I don't know why I did it. I just needed to save the Pharaoh. It was odd, after so many years of trying to kill him I go and save his life. I open my eyes to see that I was not outside. I was in the living room of the game shop with a bandage around my arm. I look around, I see Yami looking out the window. Malik is standing guard as if he is afraid of us getting attacked at any moment. Marik and Yugi were just talking. "Ryou," I groan out. "We need... to save... Ryou."

"We know, Marik and Malik told us everything they knew, even about Ryou, we were just waiting for you to get up since neither of them knew how we were going to find him," Yami told me walking over. I nodded in understanding.

"I might have an idea," I told him and then I closed my eyes. I called out in my mind but not to Ryou, I didn't think it would work. _"Amane."_

_"You called,"_ she said, she landed outside the window gently and I gave her a look. Even though I knew that she was as upset as I was about Ryou's kidnapping.

_"Can you find Ryou?"_ I asked her, I was not playing around and if she knew then she'd better tell me. The Pharaoh looked at me odd. Marik seemed to be telling them about her, or what they knew about her.

_"Yes, sorry I've been gone for a bit, I was trying to tail them, I would have helped him but I need to make sure Zorc doesn't figure me out,"_ she replied. If it was anyone else I would think she was just saying that but this was Ryou's sister.

"Alright, let's go, and I'm curious, does your mind link still work?" I asked over my shoulder as I walked out towards the front door. The other four followed after me.

"We haven't tried it," Yugi replied honestly and seemed to concentrate, I figured it wouldn't work because of the fact that they didn't have the puzzle.

"What's a mind link?" Marik asked, it was obvious that Marik and Malik had never tried to talk much except when Marik was a "spirit" during Battle City.

"We can't do it," Yugi said and turned to the two confused Ishtars. "A mind link was something that Yami and I had, I assume Bakura and Ryou had one too. It basically allowed us to talk to each other mentally, though we never had our own bodies before either."

"Yeah, do you know why we have our own bodies, Bakura?" Pharaoh asked me and I shook my head. We were now outside and I jumped onto Amane. I chuckled as Yugi had trouble and I grabbed him and pulled him on.

"No idea, I don't know much about this except that we need to save the world," I replied as Marik and Malik jumped up and Yami followed them. Amane took flight again.

"We?'" the Pharaoh asked confused. Obviously it hadn't gotten through his thick head. I just save his life. Let him help me get my light. Even want to save my light in the first place. And he wonders if I'm a part of saving the world!

"Yes, we, Malik and I have to help. Apparently only when there are seven bearers of the items can the world be saved. but it's not that simple. Apparently there are seven Hikari and Yami pairs. You, Yugi, Marik, Malik, Ryou and myself are only three of those pairs," I told him over my shoulder.

"So who are the other eight?' he asked me. I had to admit to myself; that was a good question. Not that Amane would tell me if she even knew.

"I have no idea," I replied honestly. I looked ahead of me. I sat in the front while Malik took up the rear as we were sitting in a line. Yami was in the middle.

"I'm a bit confused, I thought you died," Yugi said and I looked at him with a bit of a smirk as we continued flying to our destination. I kind of wondered why we hadn't been found out yet.

_"There are so many shadow creatures around that Zorc can't keep track of every one of them, if we don't do anything to major we may be able to stay under his radar,"_ Amane told me before I could respond to Yugi.

"Well, I tried to die but apparently I can't. It seems I have to figure out what my Ra damned name is and then have to help you save the world with it," I told them.

"Wait, I thought your name was Bakura," Malik said and I gave him a look that said quite plainly that he was an idiot.

"No, I changed my name, apparently Zorc made me do it because when the spirits of my village were sealed inside the items, he used my name to keep them there so I can release them if I know my name," I started and thus I told the four of them about what happened.

"Wow, that kind of sucks," Marik said and I glared at him. He just shrugged off my glare. Was I losing my touch?

_"Bakura, concentrate on the task at hand,"_ Amane told me and this brought a question to me that I had been thinking about but didn't ask yet.

_"Why aren't you angry that I lost Ryou, you seemed so pissed every time I called him something and now that I lost him and they're doing Ra knows what to him you're not even angry,"_ I said and she laughed in my mind. Ra damn her laugh!

_"First off, I'm angry at both of us. I should have been there too. But at the same time getting all angry won't solve anything. We need to keep ourselves calm so we can defeat them,"_ she told me. I hadn't thought about it like that. Though I wasn't used to saving people.

"Bakura?" I heard Yugi ask. What the hell could he want with me? I didn't really mind though I thought the Pharaoh would never want him talking to me. I might corrupt his little Aibou.

"What is it, Runt?' I asked him. I heard the Pharaoh take in a breath as if wanting to say something. Maybe arguing with the pompous ass would relieve some of the tension I was feeling.

"I was just wondering if you were OK, I mean, you were spacing out and... well... I'm sure your arm hurts," he said and I looked down at my arm, blood was already seeping through the bandage. I wondered if anyone had brought a first aid kit. Though I didn't think changing my bandages on a flying Shadow Creature was a very good idea.

"I'm alright, it's just that I have a connection to this monster and we were just talking. She tends to talk a lot. And don't worry about my arm. I've had worse," I replied. It was true. Even if he didn't remember, the Pharaoh had caused almost half of that pain. Both Physical and Mental.

_"We're here,"_ Amane said in my mind as we started to descend and I relayed the message to the people who would be helping me save Ryou. All four of them, even Yugi, looked ready to go in and fight whoever they had to in order to get Ryou back. I never knew he was that popular. I never knew I cared that much.

**Yay, this one is done, the next chapter will be what happened to Ryou. I'm sorry that I switched point of view on you, I hope it wasn't too confusing because it was only a small bit and I don't think I did as well with Yami's Personality.**


	4. Ryou's Rescue

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**OK, this chapter has the things I mentioned in the second chapter but still, I feel really sorry for what I've done to Ryou but it has to be done for the story, besides, not everything can be rainbows and roses.**

**Chapter 4: Ryou's Rescue**

**Ryou's POV**

My body hurts. It hurts really, really badly. I don't think I've ever hurt this much. I'm bleeding too. I thought the spirit of the Ring was bad but he never hurt me like this. OK, that was a bit of a lie. He did stab me before but this felt worse. Much worse. "Stubborn brat, why don't you just tell us what we want to know and we might let up on you."

"As if," I muttered. My throat hurt from screaming. I wished the spirit was here. Even if he didn't care about me he still wouldn't let this happen to our body. I knew they wouldn't let up on me if I told them anything. Besides, how could I betray my friends?

"Well, it looks like we need to teach you another lesson," I heard my captor say and I heard the snap of the whip he was using and I felt another scar rip open on my bare chest. Now I knew how Marik felt when he was younger and his father would whip him and his siblings. I hoped they'd find out I was missing and come after me. I hardly doubted that Yugi would let Yami just leave me. Besides, Marik and I understood each other. He had changed a lot since Battle City and was not the dark evil person I sort of never met but a caring friend who would stand up for you. This gave me hope for the spirit. I mean, people can change right?

"This little pest is really starting to get on my nerves," another person said. I knew there were more in the room but I kept my eyes close for most of it. I really didn't want to see what my body looked like. I did open my eyes this time because I didn't feel the whip connect with my already sore body. I looked up to see someone standing over me holding the whip firmly in one hand and a knife in the other.

"Bakura," I breathed out hoarsely, he looked back at me and I could tell he was trying to assess the damage to my body.

**Bakura's POV**

I turned back to Ryou when he said my name. I looked over his body and saw the many scars that shouldn't be there. I saw the Pharaoh looking and the Psycho too but Marik was trying to keep Yugi from seeing the scars on my host. There was one thing that caught my attention; some of the blood was coming from... no, they hadn't. Shit!

"How dare you!" I roared now I could see red. It was a blind rage. The type of rage I've never actually felt before. It's strange. If I had this power before. So why was it only coming now?

"Bakura, stop it," I heard a soft voice breathe from behind me and I turned to look back at Ryou who was staring at me. I had stabbed the man, not killing him. Then I had started to kick him, especially in his private area. After all, he deserved it! After what he'd done to Ryou.

"Ryou," I managed out as my rage subsided and I ran over to him and quickly cut the bindings from his arms and legs and he collapsed. I felt blood soak my already bloodstained shirt but I couldn't care about things like that right now.

"Hey, I hate to break this moment up because it's adorable and all but we might want to get out of here," the Pharaoh told us and I gave him a look. Even if he happened to be right. This time.

"Alright, let's go," I said picking up Ryou in my arms and heading back to Amane who was waiting for the six of us. I felt my own blood trickle down my arm and mixing with the blood that was coming from Ryou. I looked at him as I smelt the strange sent of hormones and such.

"Bakura... you're hurt," he mumbled as he saw the cut on my arm. Looking over I saw that the bandage was not holding up. I probably reopened the wound when I was attacking that son of a bitch. The bandage was now red. it was no use to me now but I didn't have the strength to pull it away. Actually, I felt weak. I didn't think I could carry my former host for much longer.

"Bakura," Marik said and I turned to the lighter Egyptian who was looking at us with worry in his eyes. Again, I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't used to noticing people's looks. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," I replied but my damn body wouldn't agree with me. I stumbled and almost dropped Ryou. He groaned in pain and I held him closer. I didn't know what that would do for him but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

"Bakura, please, let me take Ryou," Marik said but I didn't want to give Ryou up to anyone. Why in the name of all the gods did I feel so protective? I'd never cared about Ryou so much before. Had I? I saved him but only because I needed his body. Now it was almost as if he was a little brother to me and I couldn't shake the feeling that I failed him. Ra damn it all! With that last thought my world went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I woke up next I noticed three things. First: I must have been on Amane because I felt fur under my body. Second: Ryou was no longer in my arms. And lastly: Someone was putting pressure on my left arm. I opened my eyes to find all my assumptions were correct. I looked around to see where everyone else was. I saw Malik and Yami were standing up on Amane's back and were looking around making sure that everyone was OK. I noticed Yugi next to me holding some cloth against my left arm. Marik was a little bit ahead of me trying to stop the bleeding on Ryou's body. There was a bit of blood clotting Amane's fur around our bodies. "You're up."

"Yeah, how long was I out?" I asked the shortest member of our little group. "And is Ryou out?" It did look like he was.

"Ryou passed out almost the same time as you did and he hasn't woken up yet. You've both been out for a couple of hours," the younger boy told me and I nodded.

"Alright, if it has only been an hour or so it shouldn't be too bad, if it goes on for much longer I'd start to get worried," I said and Yugi looked at me, apparently he wasn't as well versed in blood loss. I didn't expect him too.

"You look very pale too, I mean, you both look more pale than usual," he told me and I gave him a look. The midget probably hadn't really known anyone who had lost as much blood as we had so he probably didn't know anything about it.

"It's because of the blood loss, but trust me, I've had worse. Believe it or not, some of that was from your own beloved pharaoh," I replied using a bit of sarcasm at the end as I looked over my shoulder at said man.

"I would love to know what in the name of all loving Ra I did," he told me sharply, he must of heard what I said to his host. I guess that made perfect sense. After all, I doubt he'd let me near him willingly; unconscious or otherwise. I look at him. Sometimes I forget that he whipped his own memories when he sealed himself into the puzzle.

"I may tell you but I don't think it is wise to stop paying attention to what is around us and I think the Psycho will want to hear this too, not to mention that I think Ryou has the right to know," I replied and Malik looked at us.

"I heard my name," he said simply. Ra he was either stupid or just completely concentrated on look out for anything that would attack us.

"Bakura says he might tell us why he hates Yami so Ra damned much but after we land," Marik said and Malik smirked at me. I glared back at him and he turned back to watching our surroundings.

"How long is it going to take?" Yugi asked seeing as I was the only one who could talk to Amane and she seemed to know where she was going.

_"Amane, where are we going and how long are we going to take. I really don't think these make-shift bandages will hold up much longer and we've lost enough blood as it is,"_ I thought.

_"I know, we're almost there,"_ Amane told me and I told the others. I would have gotten annoyed but I didn't feel like it, I didn't have the energy to be annoyed right now. It really didn't take long for us to land but I didn't know where we were. I wasn't in the mood to ask questions. I wanted to get my arm healed up and then make sure Ryou was OK before I got particular. Amane seemed to know where these safe spots were and we were hardly going into the shadow realm this time.

"Come on Bakura," Yugi said and I chuckled slight, I didn't giggle, as he tried to keep the cloth on my arm but failed since I was much taller than him.

"Don't worry, I've got it from here," I told him and he nodded to me as I held on and climbed off Amane's back with the others. _"Were do you vanish off to anyway?"_

_"That's none of your concern right now. At this point I'd be more concerned about your arm and your little Hikari if I were you,"_ she replied grinning at me as she knew I hated it. And Ra knows I did!

_"Are you sure this place is safe?"_ I asked her. I didn't know if I could trust anyone. As a thief I had learned that trust was something earned not given. Now more than ever that statement had to hold true. And Ra be damned if I wasn't going to follow that!

_"Yes Bakura, do you really think I'd lead my only brother into harm's way?"_ she asked me and I didn't reply. Mostly because something about that statement seemed really familiar. Why the hell did it seem familiar? And why couldn't I figure out what it was?

"Come on Bakura, do you really want to bleed out?" Malik asked me impatiently and I followed him. When the hell did Malik start talking sense? I mean honestly. He's a frigging Psychopath for Ra's sake!

"Welcome," we were greeted and I looked around. It wasn't a big place but it seemed to be a hospital of sorts. I looked at some of the other beds and noticed cuts that can't be explained by natural means. Why in the name of everything did Zorc target people?

_"Foolish Bakura, he didn't target them, it's just that the shadow creatures don't have any master, except Zorc who doesn't care what they do, and so they just lash out for no reason," _Amane told me.

_"Stop reading my thoughts!"_ I shouted mentally at her. It was getting annoying to be honest. She had no right to read what I was thinking!

_"You did the same thing to Ryou when you were in control of him. Now you know what he felt,"_ she replied calmly but I knew she was annoyed. I hadn't thought about that really.

"Bakura, are you going to stand there and daydream all day or are you going to do something?" Yami asked and I blinked. Damn it, I really had to stop getting so caught up in talking to Amane!

"I'm coming, pompous Pharaoh," I replied and followed him into a separate room where Ryou was already in a bed. There were two beds in the room and a bunch of mattresses on the floor. I assumed they were added just now to fit the rest of us. I was also guessing that Ryou and I were getting the beds. Though the fact that Ryou being in one would tip me off a bit.

"Alright, please sit on the bed and let us look at your arm," one of the doctors said and I did as I was told. Look, if you were bleeding out then you would do what they told you too! I am not going soft!

"You're wound isn't as bad as the other ones," another person told me. I was tempted to tell her that I knew that but I stopped myself. After all, my life was in her hands and I really don't think the gods would like me dying twice before fulfilling destiny. Or would that be three times by now?

"Will he be alright?" I asked. What the hell of a question was that? I would have expected that from Yugi. Possibly even Marik or Yami but not me.

"He'll be fine, though I think he's going to have some trauma after this," she told me and I looked over at the white haired boy who was lying in the bed. He seemed to be sleeping but I could tell it wasn't natural.

"You drugged him," I said simply as I could just tell. It seemed the others knew this by the way they were looking at me. Did they think I was going to snap at them for not asking me or something?

"Yes, it was the only way to make sure he was completely healed," she said and I nodded. I'd never gone through that but I knew how traumatic it could be. Especially someone as gentle and caring as Ryou. Besides, it may have been his first time. Damn them all to Ammit!

"When is he going to wake up?" I asked curiously. I still wanted him to hear what I had to tell everyone. I just thought it would be important for him to hear me too.

"He should wake up soon enough," the woman said and I nodded as I looked at the white haired boy who was covered in bandages and then to the others who looked quite fine. It almost annoyed me to see them fine.

"Can you go? I would like to talk to them in private," I said motioning to the other four who sat on their own make-shift beds looking at me.

"Just call if you need anything," the woman said. I just nodded and looked around. Things didn't seem great here but it was good to have some places.

_"Bakura, these places can't last forever, and you must keep moving,"_ Amane said and I nod discreetly at her comment. Somehow I just knew she could tell.

"So what is it?" the Pharaoh asked me and I looked at him then glanced at Ryou. He was moving slightly. It was a sign that he was waking up.

"I'd rather wait until Ryou is fully awake, I think he needs to hear this and I don't want to say it twice," I inform my rival-turned-ally.

"Bakura," he said as he awoke and tried to sit up. Marik and Yugi jumped to his side in an instant to stop him.

"Wait a minute, you can't, you'll open some of your wounds," Marik said trying to help Ryou sit up without opening up his cuts.

"What is it Ryou?" I asked ignoring the fact that the two other lights were trying to help him. If Ryou wanted to say something to me then he was going to get to say it! Wait, where did that thought come from?

"I just wanted to say, thank you... you know. For saving my life back there," he said looking at me over Yugi's head.

"Y-you're welcome," I replied. Those words felt so strange in my mouth and yet they sounded so right at the same time. He smiled. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because, I was right," he replied. Everyone was looking at him odd. I hoped the blood loss hadn't effected his brain. We really didn't need another idiot around here.

"Right about what?" I asked him for the group. I was probably the only one who would. Well, Malik looked like he was about to open his mouth but he shut it again.

"I was thinking about how Marik changed after Battle City. I thought that it was a sign that people can change. Then I thought that you can change too. And I was right," he replied.

"What makes you think I've changed?" I asked him. I don't know if my voice sounded harsh or not but he didn't even seem t mind. He just kept smiling at me. That smile was on the list of things I was going to damn, just like that laugh of his little sister.

"It's obvious. You're in the same room with Yami and you haven't even said a single bad word yet. You saved my life even when there was no need for you to do it. You tried to stop me from bleeding out and even were nice to my friends in order to help. And while you were talking to our Shadow Monster friend the others told me what you already did. I think the fact that you got hurt for Yami's sake means a lot of things," Ryou told me. I was a bit touched... no! Ra damn it! He was probably just saying that!

"Anyway, you two need rest so I think it is about time you tell us what you find so important," Yami said turning to me after an awkward pause where the six of us just stared at each other.

"Fine, I'll tell you about Kul Elna. Or as I like to call it; my home," I replied looking at the m straight in the eyes. They would know that about my home I would never lie.

**I started typing this really early because of the fact that I was up early, it might be harder to do one tomorrow because I have quite a bit of stuff to do but I will see what I can manage, after all, I haven't disappointed myself yet.**


	5. Kul Elna

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Some of Bakura's back story might not be completely cannon but it's my story so deal with it, plus the only real part we know is what we are told by Akunadin and then what we see in the very small flashback and the conversation Thief King had with the said priest.**

**Chapter 5: Kul Elna**

"Alright, what I'm about to tell you is the truth," I said even if I knew that some of them would try to deny what I was going to say even if it was hard too. I closed my eyes preparing myself. I had never told the story before and it was a strange thought to be doing it.

"How do we know that?" Malik asked me and I glared at him. He would be able to tell, they all would. After all, the thing was too important to me to lie about it.

"You will," I replied simply. "Now shut up and listen because I will only say this once. You should be lucky I'm doing that."

* * *

Kul Elna was a small village but it was busy. It only had about one hundred occupants at a time but that never bothered anyone who lived there. The family was very important; every child was welcomed by most of the village. More importantly the leader of the village. He was a great man and had two children. One was a girl and the other a boy. The girl had helped raise her younger brother because their mother had died giving birth to the boy. It was the boy's job to take over the leadership of the village when he was old enough and his father died, much like the Pharaoh and his son would do.

The village itself was known as the village of thieves. In fact, some of the members of the village were thieves but not all of them were. The only members who did steal only did it for the sake of the village because more than two thirds of the people in the village had white or silver hair and this was looked at as a curse causing them not to be able to get jobs or buy much. If someone was caught stealing more than they needed they would be punished.

That day the young son of the village leader, who was only about seven, was running through the village in order to get something. There had been a new baby born and he had forgotten to get something. It was customary to give gifts but he had forgotten!

"Hey, watch it," one of the older boys said. They were nice to him but only when his father was around because they respected the older man.

"Sorry," the boy replied standing up as he had been knocked to the ground by the impact. There were about two boys, they were about fifteen if the boy remembered correctly.

"What's daddy's boy doing running around like that?" one of the boys asked. The young boy didn't really want to explain what he was doing, they would laugh at him and just delay him even more.

He decided to try a different tactic, "Look, I need to get something for my father and I need to hurry." He said hoping they would step out of the way.

"Well, why don't we help you out," one of the boys said in a way to make sure that the boy didn't have a choice in the matter.

"Hey, leave him alone," one of the older people in the village told the two boys and they smirked down at the young boy and then walked away. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the boy said and then smiled a bit. "I have to go, thank you for helping me."

"Don't worry, and you'd better hurry up," she said as if she knew what he had to do and knew he was late as it was.

"I have enough money to buy the new girl something pretty," he said opening his palm to show a bunch of coins. He then pulled his hood over his head and hoped that the person he bought from wouldn't mind him. He really didn't want to steal and he didn't really have the time to plan out a theft. Plus it was stupid and he knew he would be punished if he stole something like that because he didn't need it.

"Welcome," the shop owner said as the boy walked in. He was a bit surprised to see a boy about seven enter his shop alone but he didn't pay it much attention. Any business was good, seeing as he didn't get many people thanks to the stupid thief village being quite close.

"Hello," the boy said politely and walked through the store looking at various different things that looked interesting to him. He found a pretty little bracelet that looked almost like it was made of a few different snakes that wrapped around each other. Maybe it was just him thinking they looked like snakes, they could also be like rope but he liked the idea of snakes better. Each "snake" was in a different colour though the colour was pale, it was green, blue and purple. He thought it would look so pretty and it reminded him of three gems his dad had shown him, Aquamarine, Emerald and Amethyst. "How much is this?" he asked as he put it on the counter of the small shop.

"Who're you buying it for kid?" he asked the boy and then told him the price. The boy looked at his money seeing if he had enough.

"I'm getting it for my mom," he lied as he handed over the right amount of money and took the bracelet. He put it in his pocket with the rest of his coins and headed back to his home. It was close to that time when everything went wrong for the young boy. He took a deep breath of air seeing as he had been running hard. Then he started coughing. His eyes watered thanks to his coughing.

The boy put his nose to the wind and inhaled. He hoped he had only kicked up some sand that had gotten in his mouth but he was wrong. He could smell smoke! And to make it worse; it came from the same direction as the village! The boy ran towards the village hoping he was wrong and someone's house had just caught fire, it tended to happen when someone had been drinking too much.

The boy skidded to a halt on a ledge that hung a bit over the village. He dropped low to the ground and peered over the edge. He looked around, almost every building was on fire so something really bad was going on! He looked around for anyone and he saw a group of men dressed similar and they were leading some of the people the boy knew into some kind of cave. The boy knew his village well so he of course knew the cave, not to mention the secret entrance.

Slipping off his ledge he snuck over to the secret passageway that had been naturally formed a while ago. Although that cave was sometimes used as a place of worship the tunnel could be used to get the villagers out. The boy guessed that they hadn't had time to get everyone out when the strange people came.

He had learned to be able to see well in darkness and so he crept along the dark passageway. He soon saw a beam of light ahead of him and it looked quite bright. He crawled out of the tunnel and stood against the small bit of wall that extended past the tunnel.

"You should be honored that your souls shall be used to protect our land," someone the boy didn't know said so he peered around the corner and saw that his family and friends were lined up against the far wall with guards watching them. He didn't understand what was going on. There were other people standing in the middle of the chamber by a large pot. Some of them men started to chant in a strange language.

_"Father, Sister,"_ he thought as he noticed them in the group of people. Some of them were tied up, he guessed they had tried to fight back. And it did seem that way because another one tried to resist and he was beaten down and then his hands were tied behind his back.

"Now, lead them up one by one and let the ritual begin," the man who seemed to be the leader spoke and so the first person was pushed forward. They were led up to a platform and then pushed into the pot of whatever it was. The boy didn't want to watch but he couldn't turn his head away. The next person to be lead up was a girl about the same age as him and she screamed as she was pushed in. These people didn't even seem to care that they were killing children!

It only got worse from there as he watched one of the mothers who was pregnant be pushed into the boiling pot. He then saw something he dreaded. The mother with her little baby. He put his hand in his pocket and felt the cold bracelet almost cried as the baby was pulled out of her mother's arms and thrown in without a care, then the mother, who was weeping at this point, was pushed in. He watched as villager after villager was pushed into the pot. He then noticed his older sister and he started to tear up even more. _"Be strong."_

The boy thought he was hearing things but didn't pay it any attention. His sister, the person he cared about the most of all because she had been there for him was now just a boiling pot of goo! Then it was his father's turn. He almost wanted to run out there and stop him but he couldn't, something held him back. He saw his father walk, head held high, and fell into the pot.

It took a few days for something really interesting to happen. They poured the contents of the pot into a hole of some sort and then the ground shook violently. The boy was almost thrown off his feet. He had only stopped watching to grab some food that was hidden down in some of the tunnels that ran under the village.

"What are those?" one of them men asked as he looked at a large stone that lay in the middle of the cavern now. It had seven slots where seven items were fitted. Some of the guards picked up the items and then the room shook again.

"Put the items back where they belong!" a voice roared and the men looked at their leader who was being grabbed by some creature.

"No," the man said and shoved the Eye into his skull. He was then dropped and he grabbed the Ring from its resting place and he looked at the people he had with him. "Let's go."

"Father, sister, no," the boy said falling to his knees as the men left the cave to do whatever they were going to do with the items.

"Child, stop crying," the voice was familiar, it was the creature that had been there when the items had first been created.

"What do you want with me?" the boy asked worried. He didn't want to do anything expect cry his heart out because there was nothing to live for anymore.

"I can help you get revenge for the death of your village. I know who killed them and I can help you get revenge," the voice said and the boy shook his head.

"I don't want revenge, I just want to be left alone," he said just wanting to more the death of the people he cared about.

"Listen to me boy, the souls of your people are trapped in the items and the only way they can be released is by the items being placed into the stone," the voice told him.

"You're lying," the boy said trying to convince himself more than the being that he was talking too, he wondered what it looked like.

"Really, the person who had the items made only wanted power. He was only thinking about himself," the voice told him.

"Can I at least have some time to morn and think about this?" the boy asked hopefully, he couldn't think straight and he was always told never to do something without knowing what could happen if he did it.

"Fine, you have one day," the voice said and the boy just sat there and wept. He didn't eat or sleep. He just cried and cried. He only stopped crying when he no longer had any tears left to cry. The boy didn't even notice when the day was over and the voice was back. "Well?"

"Well, what?' the boy asked the voice and it seemed to sigh annoyed at the stupidity of the young boy that it was talking too.

"Are you ready to answer my question. Will you get your revenge and free your people or will you sit here and root?" the voice asked impatiently.

The young boy looked up, his lavender eyes were a bit red and puffy from crying so hard. "Who did this?"

"The Pharaoh, he only wished for power and he didn't care that he destroyed your family to do it," the voice replied.

"I... want to get my family out of the items but that's it," he replied shaking his head. "I don't want to kill anyone unless I have too."

"Foolish boy, do you really think they'd just give you the items?" the voice asked and he didn't reply because the only thing that came out of his lungs was a scream as his body went cold for a small period of time. After that he passed out.

* * *

"And you know the most important fact," I finished my story. None of them answered. Yugi and Ryou looked like they were in shock. "That little boy was me! That's why I hate you!"

"Wait a second here, aren't you older than me?" the Pharaoh asked me as I glared at him from my bed. I thought about this for a bit.

"What's that got to do with anything?" I asked annoyed. What was he trying to do? What did it matter how old the two of us were?

"Bakura, please just answer the question," he said and I was a bit surprised. He said please! I guess I would answer the blasted question, even if it didn't matter.

"I think I'm about five years older than you," I told him and he looked at me with a look that said I was missing something.

"Bakura, if you were seven then I was two. How the hell could I have done anything as a toddler?" he asked me.

"What's your point! I know it wasn't you! I know it was your father! But you and your court still used the items! Besides, the son should pay for the sins of his father!" I replied angry at him.

"Bakura!" he replied and then took a deep breath and I wondered what he was about to tell me. "Bakura... I'm sorry."

"What?" I asked him. What the hell was he doing? Why was he saying he was sorry? He was furious with me a minute ago!

"I can't remember anything so I can't say I know what my father was like and if my father really did have the items made then I am sorry," he told me. I was shocked.

"I... I don't believe you!" I replied and I turned around on my bed and lay down. Making sure that I did not hurt my left arm. Was he trying to trick me?

"Bakura-," I heard Yami try and say something but he was cut off by one of his friends. I wasn't upset, I didn't want to hear what he had to say anyway.

"I think it'd be better if you let him be for now," I was a little surprised to hear Ryou say it but I heard Yugi agree with him and Yami sighed.

"I personally think we should get some sleep," Marik said after a pause and it seemed everyone else agreed so they all got ready to sleep. I hoped none of the others were planning on trying to talk to me right now. Why did I feel like I shouldn't have snapped at Yami? Wait! When did I start using his name? Why did I also feel like he wasn't lying to me and that I should believe him? Ra damn it all!

* * *

The next time I woke up was because I could hear a strange noise. Waking up fully I knew what it was and that it was coming from Ryou's bed. I rolled over, wincing slightly as I put a bit of weight on my injured arm. I blinked looking at the boy. It was clear that he wasn't under attack so there was only one explanation; he was having a nightmare. I don't know what made me get out of bed and walk over to his bed. Or for that matter, what made me sit down and gently pull Ryou onto my lap and gently rub his hair. I wasn't falling in love with my former host! I just felt like I needed to protect him for some reason.

"Is Ryou OK?" I heard a voice and I looked up to see the Pharaoh's mini-me looking at me as if he wasn't sure if I was going to let him come any closer than he was. It was then that I noticed that he had pulled his mattress between the two bed as if he wanted to be near Ryou.

"He's just having a nightmare," I replied but it seemed he had stopped muttering. I could guess what he was dreaming off and I was angry. Angry for the person who did this. Angry at Zorc for existing. Angry at myself for trusting him and setting him free.

"It must be painful," Yugi said and I saw him glance at Ryou's lower area and I knew what he meant. I sighed. How much would the Pharaoh want me to tell him? Crap! I had to stop caring what the Pharaoh thought!

"Not if it's done right it's not, you're a virgin aren't you?" I asked him and he nodded. I didn't know how much he could see in the semi-darkness. There was some lights from a few machines that were on.

"I think Ryou was too, and I don't think they did it the right way," Yugi admitted and this time it was my turn to shake my head.

"Oh they didn't," I replied with a sigh as I held Ryou a bit closer to me. I must have looked upset because the annoying light asked his next question.

"What's wrong, Bakura?" he asked. Like I was going to tell him that! "I mean, if you don't want to tell me it's fine, and I don't expect you to want to but I just wanted to know."

"Stop ranting," I told him with a bit of a smile and then sighed. "It's stupid."

"I don't think so, I wouldn't laugh at it even if it was, and I sure as rain wouldn't tell you it was," Yugi said and I believed him. Damn those eyes! They were so... innocent!

"Sit down," I said motioning for the bed and he took a seat next to me. He looked a bit uncomfortable and I wasn't surprised. I had tried to send his and his friends souls to the shadow realm on multiple occasions. "I just... want to tell your..."

"You want to tell him your sorry but you don't know how he's going to take it," Yugi guessed and I looked at him.

"How did you?" I asked surprised. I doubted he could read my mind and I also doubt he could figure it out.

"Marik had the same issue, Bakura, and look how they are, they're best friends now. I mean, Marik almost dragged Ryou back to Egypt with him when he went back. If you say it and mean it then I think he will forgive you," Yugi told me.

"I just don't know," I replied. Why was I telling him this anyway? What did it matter to him? For that matter, why did it matter to me? Why did I care if Ryou forgave me or not?

"Well, I forgive you for trying to kill my friends," Yugi said and I blinked at him. I must have looked really stupid but he didn't laugh. "I know now that you had a bad childhood and Zorc was using you. I know it must have been really painful to go through that and that you really didn't want to hurt anyone but you had not choice because Zorc didn't give you one."

"I'm sorry, I guess, and you might be right," I replied. He was right! The little shrimp had figured something out that I never did! That cold feeling! That was Zorc taking over my body! Even back then he was using me! I felt a weight on my right arm and I looked over to see that Yugi had fallen asleep on my arm. It was kind of cute really. What did I just think? Oh RA, I was going soft. Now I felt like I had to protect both of them. Then again, I chuckled. It would be amusing to see the Pharaoh's face if he saw his little Aibou sleeping on my arm. The gesture woke both boys up as they were both leaning on me.

"Bakura," Ryou said looking up at me from where he was lying and then noticing the other boy. "Oh, hi Yugi."

"How are you Ryou?" Yugi asked him. That was my question! Then again, I did have to say something and Yugi was trying to help.

"Better," Ryou replied as he shifted to get a bit more comfortable. I grabbed his blanket and put it over him, then I grabbed the one on Yugi's bed, I don't know how I did that with Ryou on my lap, and gave it to him.

"Ryou... I'm... I'm sorry," I told him and he looked up. Our eyes met and he held my gaze for a while. It felt like hours but I knew it wasn't that long at all.

"You're serious? Well then, it's OK," he said and tried to hug me but it didn't work as well as he intended it too.

"You do?" I asked him and I saw Yugi giving me an I-told-you-so look. I didn't even think the kid could pull it off.

"Yes," Ryou replied and we looked at each other. "You were being controlled by Zorc and he lied to you, it's not your fault you were evil," Ryou told me.

* * *

**I like this chapter, it's kind of cute at the end here and I liked it. It is more like Bakura is Yugi and Ryou's big brother than anything else. He just feels like he should protect the lights since that is the job of the darkness as he will learn. He is kind of acting nice to them because partly he wants to look tough in front of the Pharaoh and doesn't trust him since two words won't change years of hatred and anger.**


	6. Game Plan

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 6: Game Plan**

The three of us talked until the others woke up. It wasn't very important and I don't even know why we did it. I guess none of us really felt like sleeping and so we just did something to pass the time. I looked over at the other three. More at Yami than either of the Ishtars. "I wonder."

"About what?" Ryou asked me. Damn! I didn't mean to say that out loud. I looked at the two boys who were looking at me. I sighed.

"I was just thinking about how life could be if this whole thing didn't happen, I mean, I guess then Yami and I would never have met each other and all that but what if we had... I mean, I don't even know," I replied and it was true. Damn it! Why did it have to be so complicated!

"Well, I don't know, I mean, if this stuff hadn't happened then we wouldn't have met you, I mean, I know when Zorc was in control of you, you weren't the nicest person but I know you can change and so I think it is a good thing," Ryou said with a smile at me. Why had I never thought of these things? It almost felt like there were more memories than I was used to. Had something happened? Probably. There may have been things Zorc didn't want me to know.

"I know things... I think Zorc was messing with my head in more ways than one," I said. I knew I was angry now. I knew they could see it in my eyes. My fists clenched around the bed sheets under my hands as I grit my teeth. How could I have been that stupid? Why the hell did I listen to him in the first place? What in the name of all knowing Ra was I thinking back then? I wasn't! That was the problem! I didn't think about it! I was too hurt! Too upset! To traumatized!

"Bakura, Bakura, are you OK?' I heard Yugi asked and I snapped out of my thoughts to see that everyone else was awake and they were all looking at me with concern. Even the Pharaoh and the Psychopath, though their looks were gone quickly. I smirked at the Pharaoh as I could tell he was looking at how Yugi was sitting right next to me on the bed. Honestly! What did he take me for? The midget wanted to talk to me not the other way around.

"I was just lost in my thoughts, Yugi," I said. I think that was the first time I'd ever used his name before. It must have been because the others were looking at me odd again. "What are you all staring at?"

"Did we miss something?" Malik asked looking at the other two who had been sleeping the whole night and then at me and the two boys who were awake and they chuckled slightly.

"It's a bit of a long story, we were up since about midnight to be honest," Ryou admitted with a smile on his face.

"Ryou was having a bad dream and Bakura woke up and then I woke up, then we started talking and Ryou joined in when he woke up and we just couldn't go back to sleep," Yugi admitted with a bit of a smile. I knew the overprotective Pharaoh might have an issue but I didn't care.

"What were you talking about?" he wanted to know. I looked at Yugi who looked at Ryou and myself and then turned back to the Pharaoh.

"That's not for me to tell you, sorry Yami," Yugi replied as he got off of Ryou's bed and started to make his bed out of habit. I guessed it was also a way to say that the talk was over on his part.

"Pharaoh," I said but he spoke at the same time.

"Bakura," I gave him a look, we didn't know who was going to talk first but he sighed. "Go ahead. What did you want to say?"

"I... I just thought you might like to know... I'm... sorry," I said and everyone looked at me. "What are you all looking at?"

"What are you sorry for?" he wanted to know. I thought that would have been obvious. Ryou gave me a look that said to carry on so I took a deep breath and continued.

"I'm sorry for trying to kill you. I'm sorry for attacking your friends. I'm sorry for using them. I'm sorry for being an asshole. I'm sorry for letting that bastard free. I'm sorry for forcing you to wipe your own memories in order to save Egypt. Anything else you want to know?" I asked him.

"No, that's enough, and it's alright, I'm sorry too. As I said yesterday, if my father did make the items then I'm sorry," he said but I shook my head.

"He didn't, your father didn't! I know it all now! That wasn't your father! That man, he was one of the high priests! Your father was Pharaoh at the time but it was the priest who killed them all," I said knowing what was hidden from me. Why it had all come back to me I didn't know but I knew I needed the information. "Yet, you never listened to me."

"Sorry," he said and we looked at each other. Our eyes met and we knew in that instant that we were both telling the truth and we both forgave each other, somewhat. Or at the very least we would work together. After all, we had a common enemy; Zorc.

"So what are we supposed to do now?' Marik asked. I didn't know when we could move next because of the fact that Ryou was still injured. I knew well enough that I could go around with a cut but I didn't know how long Ryou could last. Granted, he did last with that cut on his arm from Battle City but this was worse than Battle City.

"We need to find the other Yami and Hikari, that is the only way we will find the items and thus defeat Zorc," I reply simply. It sounded easy when we said that but they could be anywhere and we didn't even know where to start.

"That Duel Monster friend of yours seems to know what she is doing, can't she help us with this?" Malik asked me. I had almost forgotten about Amane, she had been silent for a while.

_"I can't do everything, listen to me Bakura, every generation there has been a Magician in the Pharaoh's court, and he is in the room right now,"_ I growled as she hadn't said anything. Then it hit me and I turned to my Hikari.

"Ryou! You can find them!" I said and he looked at me blankly. In fact everyone was looking at me like I had gone crazy.

"What are you talking about Bakura, I don't have any skills that will help us," Ryou replied and I sighed. I guess I'd have to explain this to them. I didn't know how I knew this, I just did.

"Listen, don't ask me how I know but I know this for sure; all of us have a power that we can use against Zorc. I don't know who can do what yet but I know for a fact that Ryou can use magic, he just doesn't know it yet," I replied. "I know because I can do a bit, not very much though."

"Then how do I do anything, wouldn't I need training. Not to mention a spell book?" he asked looking at me. Damn! I didn't think about that part!

"I'll show you how to conjure up fire, it will be able to be used, I'll show you how in a bit," I told him and then started telling him how to do it. He looked confused for a bit but then nodded and concentrated. I watched as he put his right hand flat with his palm faceing upwards. Soon enough he had managed and there was a white flame glowing above his hand. "Anyone can make fire, even if they only have a bit of magic and since we are all connected to the shadow we have power, but Ryou is a mage. Of course he will need training but that can wait."

"So what do we do with the flame, I mean, it's cool and all, but it really doesn't gain us anything," Malik said as he watched the flame dance in the palm of Ryou's hand as if he was mesmerized by its flickering light.

"I think it can show us who they are but that's about all I can manage, we're going to need to find them though," Ryou said. I could see him concentrate on the flame and it seemed to take the form of two teenage girls.

"Alright, well, I know someone who can track anyone in the world," Yami said and I looked at him with a smirk on my face.

"It's kind of scary, I think we're thinking the same thing, Yami," I replied. I don't know if he was more shocked to hear me use his name or that I was agreeing with him.

"Who?' Yugi asked as Ryou closed his hand on the flame causing it to go out. Malik shook his head as if clearing it from the thoughts that were inside it.

"Seto Kaiba," we said in unison. Now that was scary! I mean, why the hell would we say something in unison like that!

"Then we should head to Kaiba corp.," Malik suggested and Marik, Yugi, Ryou and Yami sighed a bit at the comment.

"It won't be that simple, seeing as Kaiba was a high priest he has been targeted a lot by shadow monsters, he fends them off with Blue Eyes but we would be attacked the minute we get within five miles of the place," Marik admitted.

"Then why did you think of Kaiba?" I asked seeing as Yami seemed to know this. What was the point of suggesting something that was pointless! If we couldn't get to him then he wouldn't be able to help us! Damn it!

"Well, I was thinking, if we had the help from that shadow monster you know we might be able to get through," Yami said and I looked at them and then nodded.

"I'll ask her," I said and seeing that most of them hadn't heard me say it once I nodded. "Yes, she is a she, she has a name too but I can't say it in case Zorc hears. That would be bad, we're trying to stay under the radar. Which means what we are about to do will draw his attention but that's just the risk we have to take. We might have to go with the High Priest and his younger brother and get out of there."

"Will you just ask her already?" Malik asked. He was impatient and I didn't blame him. I mean, I would be too but I decided not to tell him that. Instead I just gave him a look.

_"Can you take us to Kaiba's house?"_ I asked her mentally knowing she would be able to hear me. I waited for a reply. Though it probably didn't take as long as I thought it would.

_"Yes, but as you've stated, it will be dangerous so I would be careful, also, you need to be fully healed before you can try this You, Malik and Yami will probably have to fight," _she said and I nodded in agreement.

"She says she can take us but we have to wait until Ryou and I are fully healed. We will mostly likely get attacked and the Yami will have to fight," I said, they know who I was talking about.

"If Kaiba can get Blue Eyes, doesn't that mean that some of the shadow monsters are still on our side?" Yugi asked. I know where he was going with this.

"Yes, but Zorc knows where Kaiba is, if we summon a shadow monster then he would be able to find us," I explained.

"That's why we had to flee after we got Malik back. We were protected but the longer we stayed in the shadows the more likely it was for him to find us," Marik admitted and I nodded to say he was right.

"And we barely cut it. If we stayed there any longer we would have been fucked," I replied with a sigh as I leaned back on the bed. This was way to complicated and it annoyed me!

"What were you thinking, Yugi?" Yami asked the shortest of the six of us. I looked at them from where I was lying. Why would it matter what he was thinking? Hadn't we just explained that we couldn't summon any monsters?

"I just thought that maybe we could get Mystic Elf here to heal the two of them," Yugi said but sighed. "Then again, it can't be done."

"Oh yes it can!" I said sitting up and wincing as my arm hurt. They all looked at me and I smirked slightly. Seeming to remind them of when I was still evil.

"I beg your pardon, but I don't think that it is possible," Yami said and I laughed lightly. He didn't seem to get what I was trying to say.

"Listen, we can't _summon_ monsters but we can _call_ them. The shadow realm and this realm have been merged slightly with Zorc, which means that there are shadow creatures everywhere. Creatures like the Mystic Elf aren't harmless like some like Man-Eater Bug for instance. With only one of us, calling them might be impossible without the items but there are six of us. We just have to put our power together and call her," I replied with a gleam in my eyes.

"Are you sure that'll work?" Marik asked me and I nodded at him with a smile. There was also another thing that they didn't know about the Mystic Elf. I supposed I should fill them in.

"Another reason that she will hear us is because back in Ancient Egypt the person who summoned her was none other than the bearer of the Necklace, Priestess Isis. Also known as the former incarnation of your sister, Ishizu," I told Marik. "Thus she'd be willing to help us. I would go back to Egypt and get Ishizu to do it but it's too far to go back and Kaiba is closer this way."

"Alright, we can do this! I think we need to get together and take each other's hands," Yami said and I nodded. We did so and then we concentrated.

_"Mystic Elf,"_ we thought in unison. How I knew that was a mystery. _"Please, come and help us. we need you!"_

_"I hear you masters,"_ we heard a voice reply and we all opened our eyes to smile at each other. Then the elf appeared in the room we were in. I knew this was dangerous and we might have to leave after the healing was over but for now we had work to do. She seemed to know what she was supposed to do because she did it. It didn't just heal my arm. It brought my energy up. I could see the others as they seemed to get more strength from the Elf.

"Thank you," we said and the Elf bowed to us slightly before departing the same way we came. I looked at Ryou who looked a lot better. I then stood up and smile at the rest of the group.

"Well, who's ready to kick some major shadow monster butt?" I asked and Malik and Marik did a cheer. Though it was slightly muted in order to not bother any of the other patients. I looked at Yugi and Ryou and even they looked like they were ready to kick some serious ass. Yami had that look on his face that told you never to mess with him. I never thought I'd be happy to see that.

"Let's go then," Yami said as we started to go out of the hospital. I don't even think we were really noticed. They had too many people to worry about. My fists clenched at the sight of it but that didn't stop me from making at joke at my former enemy.

"Who died and made you boss?" I asked him and he turned his head to me as Amane alighted in front of us and we hurried to get on.

"My father," he replied and I smirked at him. We helped Yugi up together and then we took flight. It wasn't a nice flight because we were on the lookout for shadow creatures that might pop up at any moment.

"Does it ever get light?" I asked looking around, it didn't seem very light outside and it annoyed me greatly.

"Not really," Ryou replied looking around as if worried. I could tell that although Mystic Elf could heal his physical wounds the mental ones were still there and only time was a healer for that. though even time had its limitations.

"So we're heading to Kaiba corp.?" I asked and they nodded as we started flying in the direction of the skyscraper that I knew was the biggest building in Domino City.

"Kaiba refused to move, but I think we're going to have to after what is about to happen," Yugi explained and I looked at him.

"What about the rest of your friends?" I asked. I hadn't seen them around anywhere. I didn't know why I cared about them really.

"Tea is in New York, Joey's with Kaiba, that's why you'll see Black Eyes there too, we don't know what happened to Duke but we think he moved. We haven't seen Tristan for a while either. Serenity still lives with her mother last time we checked. I don't know about anyone else really," Yugi replied.

"Wait a second? Kaiba and Joey?" Marik asked and he laughed. Which caused Malik to laugh too. I didn't, I didn't think it was the time! Plus, that would mean we might have to take him with us too! How many people could Amane carry! Besides, that would mean we have to protect them!

"Everyone, we have company," Yami said and the rest of us looked up to see that he was correct. A bunch of monsters were around us. Yami, Malik and myself stood up as the Hikari tried to make themselves small so we had more room.

"Careful," I said as Amane barely dodged an attack form one of the monsters. It was clear that she was trying not to throw the Hikari off. I cursed under my breath as I saw an attack that Malik managed to block in time. She needed us as much as we needed her right now. What had we been thinking?

"Yami, behind you!" Malik called and he turned around and stabbed with the blade he had. I was impressed. Though I knew he could fight, after all, he had been trained to do so for many years. I was also impressed that Malik called him by his name.

"Thanks Malik," Yami said as he faced off with another creature. I didn't know what happened to them when they were destroyed but I hoped they did not come back very fast. Then something happened that changed things.

"No!" I shouted as I saw an attack aimed for Amane. I leaped into the air (I admit, not my best move) and stabbed down on it. I was surprised when I didn't fall. Then I felt a strong muscled body wrap around me but it wasn't in a painful way. No, this was not an enemy. I already know exactly what it was and it made me smiled. "Diabound."

**I was always planning on adding Diabound in but I didn't know when so this seemed like a good place to put him. I was going to have Kaiba come in this chapter but I decided not to. Other Duel Monsters will come in and out at some points to help the shadow mages and yes, Implied Puppyshipping.**


	7. Kaiba

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 7: Kaiba**

I smirk as Diabound takes down a bunch of monsters in one blast. He looks like he had before I started to kill all the priests. I kind of liked him better this way. He gently put me back on Amane's back and started circling us as if defending from anything that may attempt to harm the group of us. Malik and Yami looked a bit tired seeing as they had been fighting for a bit. Even when I was told there were monsters I hadn't guessed on this many. "That was good timing."

"Yeah, but don't ever do something that reckless again," Ryou reprimanded me with a small smack across my head as I just smiled at him.

"Alright, I won't, unless I know I will be safe if I do it," I replied with a chuckle and Yami turned to me with shock in his eyes.

"So you're saying you didn't know Diabound was there? You could have just jumped to your own death?" he asked me and I nodded. Wasn't that obvious? How the hell was I supposed to know that Diabound was there? "That was kind of stupid."

"Probably, but it had to be done, if she had gotten hit by that attack we might all have been sent plummeting to the ground," I replied simply.

"Hey guys, look," Marik said before Yami could reply. There, moving towards us were two familiar shapes. They seemed almost like opposites as one was White with blue eyes and the other black with red eyes. We knew what they were. The Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Joey's favorite monster and Kisara, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, the favorite monster of Kaiba and his former self.

"I hope they don't attack us," Yugi said as the two dragons neared us and Diabound seemed to move backwards as if to not be hit by them. The two dragons circled us is if they were trying to test us for something.

"What are they doing?" Ryou asked someone in general. It seemed most people were confused as to the motion of the two monsters.

"They're trying to see if we're friends or foes," I reply simply. "After all, they are in some ways the protectors of Joey and Kaiba."

"Oh," Ryou said simply and he looked at the two large dragons that seemed to have decided we were friends and blasted some monsters. They flew on either side of Amane while Diabound followed us. Striking anything that came up from behind. Amane took care of anything that was in front of her.

"I just wonder how Kaiba and Joey are going to react to this whole thing," Yugi admitted as we neared the giant building that was still as large and imposing as I remembered it.

"Well, Joey will be happy to see Yami, Ryou, probably Marik, and myself, but not you two and as for Kaiba, he'll probably not believe that you guys are our other halves and say we have twin brothers or something," Yugi admitted.

"You know, I think this adventure might make that Priest believe in magic and other things like that," Malik replied as we neared the building we were heading for and started to descend towards the front of the building.

"So, we're just going to go and knock on the door?" Marik asked and we nodded. Wasn't that the simplest way of doing things? We walked over to the door and noticed an intercom system. Yugi pressed the button.

"Who is it?" came the familiar voice of Seto Kaiba from the intercom. I could just see him sitting in his office with his computer and scowling every time he turned around to see a monster or every time Kisara's attack lit up the sky like a lightning storm.

"It's Yugi," he said over the intercom after pressing the button. Some things in the modern world I did hate! Others, not so much.

"Hey Yugi, we need to let him in Kaiba," Joey's voice could be heard from the other end. He sounded the same as usual so he probably was the same boy that I knew.

"Go away Mutt," we heard Kaiba said and Joey growled from the background. Didn't he realize that made him sound like a dog? "What do you want, Yugi?"

"I need to talk to you, well there are some others here too but it would be best if you let us in before we started talking," Yugi replied simply.

"Come on Seto, just let them in already," Joey said. I was a bit surprised to hear him use the Priest's name to be honest. Would he be so quick to let us in if he knew who two of us were? I didn't think so!

"Fine, come in," Kaiba said and we heard a click as the doors were unlocked. We turned to see Kisara, Red-Eyes, Diabound and Amane watching us. They were clearly telling us to book it inside and that we did. We opened the doors and walked in. Quickly closing them after us. There were footsteps in the hallway and I turned my head. I didn't have to be a master thief to hear that! I mean, I do admit that the hallway we were in was large and therefore it echoed but he wasn't trying to be silent.

"Yugi," he said noticing his best friend and running over to give him a friendly hug. He then noticed Ryou, Marik and Yami. "Hi Ryou, Marik, hey, Yami, you have your own body."

"Hi Joey, it's been a while hasn't it," Ryou admitted as he returned the hand-shake that Joey offered him.

"I kind of missed you too," Marik said. I could tell there was still a bit of tension between the two, but I didn't blame them. Still, they managed to high-five each other without a problem.

"Yes, I do have my own body, how have you been?" Yami said and I let the five of them catch up a bit. I saw Malik standing of to the side too as we watched. It would almost be better if we let them deal with the talking but we knew we needed to be there and the faster we got the whole thing done with the faster we could get to saving the world. What the hell! When did I care so much if the world was saved or not?

Yami seemed to think the same thing as me because he glanced at the two of us and looked back at Joey. "There is something else you need to know about this, then we really need to talk to Kaiba, we'll explain more to him."

"What is it?" Joey asked and I glanced at Malik. With a nod the two of us walked out of the shadows we had been hiding in for the time being. "You!" He punched me! Or he tried to. This time I grabbed his arm before he could actually make contact with me.

"Joey wait! Bakura, don't hurt him!" Yugi shouted and I listened of course. He may have been annoying but he could be useful. Probably not a barer but I could feel power inside of him. something strong, which was probably why Red-Eyes listened to him. He wasn't finished yet.

"What are you talking about Yugi, he did this! He set that creature free! He tried to kill us all!" Joey was angry, and to be honest, I didn't blame him. Then he turned on Malik. "And what about him! He tried to kill us all too!"

"If you'd shut your mouth we'd tell you!" I shouted and he turned to me and I sighed and breathed. Getting angry at him wouldn't solve our problems. I was just so used to solving things by fighting. "Listen we're here to save the world, I know it's a strange thought but it's the truth."

"Joey, please trust us, do you really think I'd let Yugi be around them if I didn't trust them?" Yami asked. "I know they've been our enemies but they are now our allies."

"How do you know that for sure?" Joey asked him as he gave Malik and I a look that clearly said he didn't trust the two of us.

"Bakura saved my life and he and Malik had a bunch of chances to kill us if they wanted to," Yami replied as the two of us looked at each other.

"This isn't going to get us anywhere, we're going to have to get out of here. Damn! We've been drawing this much attention with all these attacks," I growled out.

"We need to talk to Kaiba! Now!" Yami agreed and we looked at Joey as if he was supposed to take us to his boyfriend.

"Alright fine," he said and gave Malik and I a last look as if expecting us to try and stab him in the back when he wasn't looking. Then the seven of us walked up to an elevator where we climbed in and Joey hit a button. "Just don't expect him to believe all of this."

"Same stubborn person, well, I didn't know what to expect and I suppose I shouldn't have expected less from him," I commented.

"Don't talk about Kaiba like that!" Joey said. I knew he was a bit like me. He thought with his fists more than his head. I guess I kind of liked that in him. He had a strong spirit and will... wait what was I thinking? I have to stop thinking like this! Even if I help them save the world that's it! After I'm done I'm leaving them and we won't have to see each other ever again! Even so, I don't know if I really believe my own thoughts.

"Honestly, I was just saying, he hasn't changed from when I remember him as the High Priest. Even down to the obsession with the Blue-Eyes," I replied.

"Why does he like Blue-Eyes so much?" Yami asked me and I smirked at him. There were so many things I could tell him about the past. All in due time of course.

"for almost the same reason you're so connected to the Dark Magician, Pharaoh," I replied thinking of Maahad. I was sure he'd help us for the Pharaoh's sake but not mine. Of course not mine!

"Bakura, now isn't the time for games," the Pharaoh told me and I knew he was demanding to know the answer.

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you. The Blue-Eyes is the Ka of someone from Egypt, the same as Diabound is my Ka," I started.

"What's a Ka?" Joey asked. I was annoyed that he had interrupted me but the confused looks on some of the other faces told me I should explain.

"A Ka is the spirit that lived in the hearts of the people of Egypt. They were drawn out by the Items and sealed inside stone tablets. These tablets, Pegasus would later find and use to create Duel Monsters. Well, there was a girl in Egypt. Her name was Kisara and I don't know that much about her but I think the Priest took a liking to her. Her Ka was the Blue-Eyes. From what I could tell when she was sealed she swore to protect him. I think that was what the story was," I stated.

"What about the Dark Magician?" It was Yugi who asked but I knew the others were thinking the same thing as they looked at me.

"Back in Egypt you had a Priest. He was also a Magician; a very strong one. He was also the holder of the Ring. Well, his Ka was known as the Illusion Magician and was his favorite monster. One day he decided to challenge me alone. He had sealed a lot of his power away but released it. The battle waged on and it was quite well matched if I have to admit it. Well, I eventually won the battle by destroying his Illusion Magician but he did one last thing before he died. He used the last of his power and sealed himself in his Ka to form the Dark Magician. He almost destroyed me with his new attack but I got away, with the Millennium Ring," I replied.

"So you killed him?" Joey asked. It was clear he didn't quite understand the relationship of a Ka and it's master.

"Technically, yes, but in a way he saved himself by sealing himself away. Thus was formed the Dark Magician who would serve the Pharaoh even to this day," I replied simply as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"Hey, Seto, they wanted to talk to you," Joey said as we walked into Kaiba's office and we saw Mokuba there. I guessed the Priest was being careful to keep his little brother close. After all he didn't want Zorc and his followers to kidnap him. I looked at Ryou as I thought about kidnapping. Zorc would pay! No one did this to a Hikari! Much less _my_ Hikari! When did I get so over-protective?

"What do you all want?" the CEO asked us as he scanned the room. He looked at some of us as if expecting us to grab his brother. He also seemed to be trying to explain to himself why there were two of each of us.

"We need your help, Kaiba," Yami replied simply and I gave him a look. Did he really expect Kaiba to be that easy to convince?

"Yugi, I don't know what game you're playing-," he started but I cut him off. We didn't have time for this! Either he was going to help us or not but I wasn't going to sit around here.

"Listen to me! That is not Yugi as much as I am not Ryou Bakura and he is not Marik!" I snapped pointing to the teens in turn.

"Bakura, stop it," Yami said and I growled at him but was silent. "Kaiba, please, we need your help and I know you don't want to believe in this stuff but you have to," Yami replied.

"Seto, I think you have to tell them the truth," Mokuba said and Kaiba gave him a look but Joey spoke before he could.

"I think Mokuba's right Seto, there is no need to hide it anymore," Joey said. So the damn Priest did believe after all!

"Alright fine, what do you need?" he asked and we could tell that he really had believed for the most part of the time we'd been telling us. Then it hit me.

"You were doing it to protect your reputation! You believed all along!" I shouted at him. I don't know why that annoyed me but it did.

"It makes sense though," Mokuba spoke. "I mean, think about it, if big brother said he believed in magic and that kind of thing his reputation would go down and Kaiba corp. would probably be taken over or something. I mean he could hardly tell anyone what really happened at Battle City."

"I suppose you do make a valid point," I replied sighing. I didn't have time to get annoyed anyway. We had to do this and as soon as possible. It was probably my thief instincts telling me not to stay in the same place for too long.

"We need you to find some people. Can you do that?" Yami asked and Kaiba nodded as he pulled out his computer and turned it on.

"If there is anyone you need to find I can get it on the internet, who are you looking for?" he asked and I sighed slightly.

"We don't know their names, we know what they look like though," Ryou said and Kaiba gave him a look as he started to type on his computer.

"Why are you looking for these people anyway?" he asked. He really did sound like the High Priest at times.

"Well, they need to help us save the world from Zorc," Yami said and I knew he recognized the name. It was the look that crossed his face. I don't think most people noticed but seeing as I was used to reading people's expressions I caught it.

"Well, what do they look like then?" he asked and Ryou sighed and thought back to what we had seen in the fire. He started to describe what he remembered and then some of us joined in to express our own knowledge about these new people.

"My search comes up with this, do any of these people look familiar?' he asked as he turned the computer around to show us the pictures of various teenagers. It wasn't that they look familiar, they looked just right. As if I could tell who they were even on a picture.

"Those two," I said pointing out the two girls that I knew we were looking for. If we could find them then we had over half of the bearers and with Joey and Kaiba we had two of the strongest Shadow Creatures on our side. When Maahad found us we would be even stronger. Damn! Working alone seemed pointless compared to the strength that we were amassing right now!

"Well, it says here that their names are Akane and Temara. They are about fifteen and they travel a lot due to their parents work. Right now they are currently staying in Stockholm," Kaiba read out and Malik looked confused.

"Where?' he asked and I rolled my eyes. Even I knew that! I think Yami did too but it seemed Malik did not.

"We're going to Sweden, though I think we'll be heading around the world by the sound of it, and I hope you know where Sweden is," I replied.

"No clue," Malik admitted and I sighed at him and then turned to Kaiba who cleared his throat to gain our attention.

"Well, if we are going to go around the world we need to have a jet or something," he replied and I was a bit surprised. I knew he would help us but I didn't know he would offer.

"Do you have one that will fit over fourteen people?' Yami asked and Kaiba nodded at us. "And one that isn't obvious?"

"Yes, but there aren't very many flights these days," he replied. I wasn't surprised, it was dangerous even if people didn't know why.

"It might be better, I mean, think about it, with us in a jet we will leave our monsters to protect us without having us on them at the time," I said thinking about Diabound, Red-Eyes, Kisara but more importantly Amane.

"Well, let's go then," Marik declared and so Kaiba led the way to his jet. Joey and Mokuba followed after them and we went too. He had taken his laptop with him which would come in handy when we had to find the others.

"Well then, let's go to Sweden, I always wanted to travel the world," Ryou said half-sarcastically as we bored the jet and we took off. The four monsters circled us as he flew keeping out of the way but making sure to deal with any monster that got in our way. It felt good to be heading off.

**I wasn't going to have Kaiba in this very much but then I decided he was useful and he will play a rather big role in the whole thing. I chose Sweden because I lived there for a bit and I felt like it. It was fun to do.**


	8. Temara and Akane

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 8: Temara and Akane**

We flew for a while. Kaiba was good at flying a jet it had to be said. Mokuba sat in the seat next to him while the rest of us sat in the other seats. Well, all except for Joey who was bringing us food and drink. For some reason Yugi requested something to drink and Kaiba thought it would be a good idea to have Joey do it. So the blond was passing things out to us and then sitting down to enjoy the flight with us. Well, OK, so it wasn't enjoyable really. "So, Yami, how do you plan on saving the world this time?"

"Well, first we need to find the other Yami and Hikari pairs according to Bakura. He says we need to get seven pairs of Hikari and Yami and each pair will wield one of the items. Apparently when this happens we can beat Zorc," he told them. He forgot a slightly important detail.

"Don't forget that I have to find my name, without that I can't release the souls of the people trapped in the items," I stated and Joey looked at me confused.

"Wait, there are actually people sealed inside them?" Joey asked and I gave him a look. It was annoying how little they knew about it. Well him, but then again, he didn't know about Kul Elna.

"What did you think they were made out of? Gold? I suppose they partially are but they are more than just Gold. ninety-nine humans were sacrificed to make them," I replied calmly but I wasn't feeling calm at the time at all.

"I didn't know... I mean, that's just," he didn't seem to know what to say, not that there was anything really to say about it.

"Don't bother, it's not a surprise you don't know. No one knows about Kul Elna after all," I told him and he looked puzzled.

"Yeah, I have no idea what that is," he commented and I sighed. I didn't know if I wanted to fill him in on the details really. Saying it once was bad enough.

"Kul Elna was my home back in Ancient Egypt before it was destroyed and used to form the items that you know of," I replied looking at him. I think he could probably see in my eyes that I was serious.

"Oh," he said and I turned away. It was clear we were done talking. I didn't know how long it would take us to get to Sweden but I hoped it wouldn't be too long. We met not as much resistance when we got away from the perimeter of Kaiba's tower. It was a relief seeing as I could tell that the monsters were a bit tired and a few cuts were adorning their bodies. They would heal well enough anyway.

"Guys, we'll all be landing soon enough," Mokuba said coming out to tell us the message and then walked back in. I guess that answers my former question.

"Alright, so we know sort of where they are but not exactly," Marik admitted and I shook my head as I knew something they didn't.

"Actually, I can find them if I'm close enough. It's not as good as if I had the Ring back but for now it will have to do," I replied as we started to descend.

"Well, then we shouldn't have much trouble finding them but how do we convince them that we are not insane," Yami said and Malik smirked at us.

"We are insane Pharaoh," Malik replied and I sighed. Saving the world was going to be a long journey at this rate. After all, I didn't know how long the rest of us could last without blowing up at each other for something. It would probably be something stupid too. We landed and we climbed off the plane. It was clear that there really weren't that many people flying around these days, not that I blamed them or anything.

"Well Bakura, where are they?" Yami asked me and I gave him a look but I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could feel a pull and I started walking towards it. I looked over my shoulder to see that the others were following me. Not to mention that the monsters were circling above us to make sure we were still safe.

"I just hope we don't run into anyone we don't want to," Yugi said looking around. I held my knife in my pocket. Most people would use a gun but I preferred a knife. I guess it was back from when I was a thief King back in Egypt. I guess Malik also liked knives better. I guess there was more blood that way. Though somehow I guessed that Kaiba had a gun on his person but I couldn't be sure. I know that Yami had a knife, I guess years of sword practice really made him more interested in one. So that must mean that the things that were ingrained in his skull are still there. He can fight like he was taught when he was in Egypt. That could be useful.

"Hey Pharaoh," I said and he looked at me as we walked by. It seemed most people stayed inside these days, I didn't blame them. "I realized, you have some of your memory. You know how to fight for example."

"You're right, I guess that's a good thing," he stated and I nodded and then I turned back to where I was walking. It was cold but I guess that was normal for Sweden. I didn't really like the cold much but I wasn't the only one.

"Gods, why does it have to be this cold," Marik complained as he and Malik shivered slightly and I sighed a bit at them.

"First of all, we're further from the equator so it's colder than Egypt or even Japan. And you at least are wearing a shirt that is not meant for cold. And if you were wondering, Malik, the equator is an invisible line that is at the center of the earth splitting it into two halves, the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, not that the line actually exists we just think about it," Ryou replied looking over his shoulder at the two.

"Well, I don't like it, can we not stay here anymore than we have too," Marik replied as he sighed at the cold weather.

"Just be glad it's not winter then," Ryou stated as we walked. I felt the feeling getting stronger so we were getting closer to the two girls who would be our newest members.

"What day is it anyway? And we're almost there," I replied as I looked at my new allies. I still didn't think they were friends yet but they were good allies.

"Well, for the date, it's August 22nd. And it's good that we are almost there. The whole, stay-at-home and empty streets are really getting me on edge," Ryou replied and I nodded. I agreed with him. It was unnerving to see no one around.

"I know, well, I think we've found it but we've also found trouble," I said as I looked at where there were a few monsters surrounding the two girls we'd seen on the computer. They stood back to back and one was shooting arrows at the monsters with quite good aim I had to admit.

"Let's go then," Malik said and rushed forwards, knife in hand, and started chopping down monsters left and right. I had to admit, having him on our side was a bonus.

"You do realize I had that under control," the girl with the bow stated as she sighed at our friend who just shrugged.

"He wouldn't care if you needed it or not, he would have done it anyway," Marik replied as he walked up with the rest of us.

"Who are you people?" the other girl asked us. From the pictures we knew that she was Temara, and probably the Hikari, while the other girl was Akane. It was their hair and eye colour that gave away the information.

"We can explain later, for now we should just get to the jet and get out of here," Kaiba suggested as he looked around. It was almost as if there were monsters coming out of the very earth. And to be honest, I wouldn't have been surprised.

"Akane, I have this feeling," Temara said and the other girl looked down at her. I got the two of them right. It wasn't much of a surprise.

"I know, Temara, let's go before more of those monsters come," Akane said and the other girl nodded so they turned to us. "Well, let's go then."

"You believe us kind of quickly you know," I said as we went back towards the jet. Then again, I figured this whole thing wouldn't be that easy.

"I have this strange feeling like we should trust you. Ever since I met Akane I've known that I had a destiny to do but I didn't know what it was. Now I feel it," Temara replied.

"Wait a second! If you live here then why are you speaking Japanese, I'm sure that isn't the native language here," Marik commented.

"Not even close, but I can speak a lot of different languages, my parents move around for their work so I learned many," she replied with a smile. "And Akane is from Japan from what I know."

"I don't know that much either," she told us. That's just what we need, another person who doesn't know their own life!

"Won't your parents be worried if you just vanished without telling them?" Yugi asked them and Temara laughed a bit.

"Akane doesn't have parents but as for mine, they don't pay enough attention really. They won't even know I'm gone," she told us as we rounded a corner. I cursed. There in front of us were a group of monsters and they looked more powerful than usual.

"Well, less talking huh," Akane said pulling out an arrow and fitting it to her bow. She pulled back and launched her arrow but it only lodged itself in the monsters shoulder.

"I think you got it angry now," Joey commented as we watched the monsters circle us. Kaiba, Yami, Malik, Akane and myself stood on the outside with the other six shielded.

_"Diabound, Amane, help us,"_ I called and I heard their roars and it seemed they had alerted the two dragons because they came right after to help blast the monsters. I jumped up catching onto Diabound's tail and then jumping off to stab a monster from the top. I watched Ryou out of the corner of my eye and saw him glowing. Was that supposed to happen?

_"Ryou is more than just a mage, Bakura, I guess you never thought about what his Ka might be,"_ Amane told me.

_"You've been quiet for some time,"_ I retorted but I know she wanted me to be able to figure these things out by myself. I looked at my host and saw something begin to be outlined behind him. Then it because clear and I almost gasped. Now I knew Ryou's Ka. It was the Change of Hearts!

"Wow," he said as he looked back at it and then at me. He smiled. I guess he knew what it meant as much as I did. We saw one creature that was still attacking and he sent his monster after her. Then I looked annoyed.

_"Wait a second, won't Zorc know about this?"_ I asked Amane who shook her head as Change of Hearts entered the monster and it started to stop attacking.

_"It is coming out of Ryou, it is a bit like when you called Mystic Elf but this is Ryou calling something from himself," _I didn't quite know what she meant but I was happy for the extra help. It seemed we now had Dark Necrofear on our side. I smiled as Change of Heart phased back into Ryou. The other looked confused but I gave them a look that said I'd explain later. We headed back to the jet, Ryou was on my back at the time because he was still out from what he had manage to pull off.

"I'll set the plane on autopilot, we need to talk a bit," Kaiba told us as we ran in and he went to do so. When we were flying we decided to introduce ourselves.

"Well, this is strange to do because of the circumstances but I'm Yugi," Yugi said and so we went into the whole Pharaoh thing, and saving the world. All that great stuff that the girls seemed to take in quite well if you ask me. Well, they weren't calling us crazy so it was a good start.

"Well, my name is Temara as you already know and this is Akane, from what we know she was a beast tamer a while ago. I can speak almost any language you put in front of me, reading is slightly less and writing is even tougher but I don't need that very much anyway," Temara told us.

"So where do we go next?" Akane asked as she looked at the group of us and I smacked myself as I realize that Ryou was the mage, then again, I could produce fire so I guess I'd have to do it.

"Well let's do that first," I said holding out my hand, palm up. A black flame started to flicker and it then showed what I wanted. Kaiba got out his computer and started to type. How he got the internet right here I don't know.

"Bakura," he said turning the computer screen around and I crushed the flame in my hand and looked hard at the people and then pointed.

"Well, we have to go to North Carolina," Kaiba stated and got up to fix the controls and then came back in.

"So what happened to Ryou?" Yugi asked as he looked at the boy who was now taking up two seats as he was resting.

"He summoned his Ka, apparently he has the Change of Hearts as his Ka and he was able to call her into battle to stop the other monster from attacking us," I replied as I saw Necrofear fly next to the plane. "It obviously takes a lot out of him to summon her. I won't advise him doing it too often until he has more control of his powers."

"Well, I'm glad he's just tired and not hurt," Yugi replied as he went to sit next to Ryou who woke up and we all looked at him.

"Hey, you missed the party," Malik told him and he looked puzzled and then looked at the other two girls and figured things out.

"Hi, I guess they've already told you I'm Ryou," he said standing up and shaking the girl's hands in turn. I was a bit surprised but then again, he had always been polite.

"Hi, I'm Temara and this is Akane," Temara replied with a smile at my former host. I looked around the jet and out the window to see if there were any issues.

"So two questions; where are we headed? And what exactly was that back there?" Ryou asked and I turned to him.

"First; we're off to North Carolina to get two of the others. As for what you did, you summoned your Ka to aid us and converted Dark Necrofear to our side so she fights for us now," I replied and Ryou smiled at me..

"Good, also I was wondering, how in the name of Ra did I do that?" That was a very good question actually. I had to think about it for a little bit.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly how you did it but you are apparently able to summon her a bit like we did when we called the Mystic Elf to aid us when we were injured," I replied and then looked around. "No one is injured right?"

"We're all fine, but it might be better if we leave Mokuba here next time, I don't want him in danger," Kaiba replied.

"Kaiba," I said calmly with a sigh. "If we leave him here he'll be an easy target, he would be safer with us so he has someone to protect him."

"Well, then I'll stay here too," Kaiba said and Joey folded his arms as he looked at his boyfriend with a strange look on his face.

"If you're staying here them I'm staying too," Joey replied. It might work, with Kisara and Red-Eyes they were protected enough.

"If you are sure then I don't see why you can't stay behind and watch the jet while we get our newest members," Yami replied and then look at the rest of us as if to wonder if any of us wanted to stay behind too.

"I still want to go, I won't miss it," I replied and Malik nodded in agreement. We looked at Akane who nodded as well.

"I think the Hikari should stay back though," Malik said which was odd. I still had trouble thinking about him sounding sane.

"No, we want to help you guys," Marik complained and the three Hikari nodded in unison at the comment.

"It's too dangerous!" I shouted at them. "It would be safer if you stay here! We'll leave the others and take Diabound with us."

"What if you need us?" Temara asked her question. It didn't seem like the two had any trouble fitting into the group. I guess having moved around had made her better at mixing with different groups of people.

"It's dangerous, it would be safer if you guys stayed here," Yami agreed and Akane gave them all looks, especially Temara.

"Terra, listen, it's not that we don't think you can fight, it's just that it's safer if you don't come, we won't have to worry if we know you're safe," Akane replied.

"How do you know we'll be safe?" Ryou asked and I gave him a look of sympathy. I never knew I had that type of look.

"You have more monsters to protect you and you have Kaiba and Joey," Yami replied and they looked at each other.

"Fine, we'll stay here but you better be right," Yugi stated for the four of them and we looked at each other.

"You have a deal," the four of us said and I smiled. I think that was the first time I'd smiled truly. Not insanely or that kind of sick smile that I sometimes had. No a real smile. It was strange and yet... good.

**OK, I think this was bad but whatever, I'll let you think what you want about it, I don't really care that much about what you think. I will introduce some of the others later and then things will start to pick up seeing as when they get the items and then they will fight Zorc. I don't know how long this story will be but we will find out together because I'm writing this as it comes to me so bare with me as I find out what I'm doing. I have a plan but some things are a surprise even to me.**


	9. Shift in Power

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Alright, so I know I only have two stories but because of my life and college and such I will update every week (I hope) and that's why it's been slow, also right now I'm in a part where I kind of feel like nothing is happening. That is why it's kind of lame when the characters meet because I'm more of an action person (also I'm extremely shy so I'm not used to interactions between other people because I don't pay attention to it much).**

**Chapter 9: Shift in Power**

We landed in North Carolina and I was a little surprised. I knew the place was kind of warm but it seemed lighter than I'd expected. I looked at the other Yami and they seemed to have the same thought as I did as we walked silently trying to find the newest members of our group. Diabound and Necrofear guarded us. Amane, Kisara and Red-eyes stayed with the others. I wanted to leave Necrofear too but Ryou had convinced me to take her with us; I have no idea how he managed to do that. "Bakura, are you in there?"

"What do you want, Yami?" I asked giving my former rival a glare which he seemed to blow off. That annoyed me slightly but somehow I felt a bit calmer here.

"I was just wondering if it seemed lighter to you, as if the shadows aren't effecting this place as much," Yami said and I nodded at him.

"Is it possible that the Yami here has some power and is pushing away the shadows?" Akane asked. She didn't know much about our world but it seemed Malik wanted to know the exact same thing.

"It could have something to do with it," I replied honestly though I wondered how someone who had no connection to an item had managed to be able to control the power of shadows.

_"Bakura,"_ Amane said as if I was a little child. Sometimes I really hated her! _"Just because you don't know them doesn't mean they haven't had contact with an item."_

_"It doesn't make sense if he or she had, after all, the items were heavily guarded, if they were used by someone else then someone would know about it," _I replied.

_"I would ask Malik, most of them were guarded by the Tomb-Keepers and he may know more about it than you do,"_ she replied and I growled at her, but I turned to Malik anyway.

"Malik," I said and he looked at me and nodded for me to continue speaking. "Do you know if any of the items went missing for a while?"

"Not much, the Ishtar family took care of the Rod and Necklace and they only went out of the tomb when Marik took the Rod, I don't know much about the others since the Puzzle was in the Pharaoh's tomb and the other items were guarded by Shadi," he replied.

"Speaking of him, I wonder what happened to him," Yami said looking around as if he was thinking he would appear.

"Don't know and don't care," Malik replied and I agreed with him. I killed him for a damn reason after all! For one thing he said I wasn't worthy of the items. More worthy than him! They were made out of _my_ family after all.

"You don't look like you liked him very much either," Akane said and I thought she was talking to me but she was looking at Yami.

"I don't think any of us like him," Malik stated looking at me with a bit of a smile. "I hate him because he told Marik that it was the Pharaoh's will that his father died. I mean, I wouldn't have been half as Psychotic if Marik hadn't been dark. It made sense. If Malik was dark then that would mean Marik had to be light. So, if the light was dark then the dark would have to be double as dark to counter it because they couldn't switch places. Then again, the dark could become light, but then the light would have to be extra light. Too much darkness and nothing can live but too much light and there is nothing... it was a balancing act.

"I'm not sure, somehow I feel I've met him but I can't really remember, it was a dream but I'd have to think about it," the red-head told us.

"He 'tested' Yugi to see if he was worthy of the Puzzle; he controlled his friends lives and put him through tests to see if he was actually worthy," Yami replied.

"I was the one who killed him, so yeah, I hate him. He mostly told me that I wasn't worthy of being able to have the items, let alone being inside the Ring; if he only knew," I replied looking up at the sky. It occurred to me that I might have to tell the story again, for the others of our group. Damn it!

"How'd you kill him when you were sealed inside the Ring?" Malik asked me and I looked at him then thought about it. How had I done it exactly?

"Well... I don't remember the details... I think I was being controlled... but I'm sure he used his Key to get into my mind and it happened there," I replied honestly as I scowled. I was the biggest fool wasn't I?

"Does it matter?" Yami asked us and Akane and I shook our heads. Malik on the other hand nodded but we gave him looks and he was silent after that. In fact we all were. It was a bit strange; not being attacked by duel monsters at any moment.

"Well," Akane said but somehow I could tell she wasn't talking about the fact that Malik seemed to want to hear every gruesome detail of Shadi's death. "I saw him in a dream; Temara did too. I don't think he said much to us or anything, though he did seem to be looking for something."

"He might have been in your soul-room," Yami said and then added due to her puzzled expression. "It's a part of your mind, we all have one. You and Temara have a connected one. You should probably be able to go there after you get your item."

"Marik and I shared a soul-room since I was created by him but I think it's split when I was sealed in the Shadow Realm," Malik said as we walked. I could feel we were getting close to our destination and I hadn't even been paying that much attention. What was happening to me? Was I slipping?

"We're almost there," I said and they looked at me for a bit as if wondering what I meant. It seemed I wasn't the only one who kind of forgot for a bit. They nodded as I led them towards a river. I wondered what our newest members would be doing by a river.

"What are you doing exactly?" I heard a female voice ask and at first I thought it was directed at us but then a male voice replied to her.

"I'm looking for gators, why? Do you have a problem with that?" he asked her and she sighed a bit at him. I could somehow tell which one was the Yami and Hikari, though why one was a boy and the other a girl I didn't know.

"You really think you'll see one?" she asked him with a sigh. "I doubt they will come up even if they were here."

"Well, it beats fishing, honestly, Mae, you must be really bored to just sit there for hours," the male replied.

"It hasn't been hours and it's not boring, Rakknar, you just don't appreciate it," Mae responded. I looked at the other three and Malik's eyebrow was raised. He must have been thinking the same thing as me.

"Well, we've found them," I replied simply as I looked in the direction the voices were coming from. Never had I seen Yami and Hikari who looked so different. I had always thought they would look similar but no, they were very different. Rakknar was leaning against a tree looking into the water as Mae was sitting on the bank fishing. I didn't really want to go up, I really didn't think that it was a good idea to catch them of guard.

"Malik, get back here," Yami muttered as the formerly, and still a bit, Psychotic Yami started towards the two of them.

"What are you four doing?" Rakknar asked looking over at us and Mae turned back towards the us as we walked forward, Yami hitting Malik over the head as we did so. I smirked as Malik gave his former enemy a glare.

"We wanted to talk to you two," Yami replied and the two of them looked at each other. We looked at each other too as if we were trying to figure out if they were going to listen to us or not.

"About what?" Rakknar asked us. I was pretty sure he was the Yami but it was a bit hard to tell. I hoped this wasn't going to be like Marik and Malik were. Though considering that neither of them were murdering psychopaths it was alright.

"About saving the world actually," Yami replied and the two of them looked at each other again and I was sure this would be harder than the first two but we would actually have them join us! We needed to have them join us!

"What are you talking about?" Mae asked looking at the four of us. This wasn't going to be easy but it had to work.

"It's hard to explain," Yami said and then he started to go into the whole thing and the two looked at each other. It was hard not to think that they had a mind-link but they shouldn't have one seeing as they were new to this whole thing and the ones who had been doing it for a while (Yugi and Yami) didn't have one.

"You expect us to believe that?" Rakknar asked and I was about to tell him that we did expect them to believe but I didn't say it. I felt like letting Yami do all the talking for now.

"Well, it's... I mean... I guess you wouldn't just believe us but...," Yami said but he didn't get far in what he was trying to tell her.

"Wait a second, Rakknar," Akane said as if remembering something. The boy looked at her and his eyes widened. I guess they knew each other and Akane just remembered about it.

"Akane... is that really you?" he asked as he looked at our friend and she smiled. It seemed they really did know each other.

"Yeah, what're you doing all the way down here?" she asked walking over to him and hugging him in a friendly manner. Or at least that's what it looked like.

"I live here now, with Mae, it's kind of nice actually. At times it can be boring, it's really not like the old days but it's still become home, how about you?" he asked with a smile at her. Maybe they were more than friends after all.

"I live all over the place, I mean, I lived in Sweden until these guys came and told me about the saving the world stuff. I don't exactly remember everything about the past actually, but it seems like you know about it," Akane replied. We let the two of them talk since it seemed to be working.

"Well, that's alright, but then again, what is it all about anyway?" he asked looking over at Mae as if he was wondering about her too.

"Well, I have a friend too, I think you know how I mean, her name is Temara and they are our light halves, I'm not really the one to explain about that but still. There is this evil person or something and we have to destroy him by uniting. You know the stories the stories of the Millennium Items, well, apparently we need to have all seven of them or something," Akane tried to explain. She clearly didn't know much about it.

"Honestly, I can explain it easier," I said and the two turned to look at me as if asking me to carry on and so I decided I would. Even if Akane gave me a look. "Alright, well, basically. You are a Yami and Hikari pair and you are supposed to have one of the items so we can save the world."

"So, who is who and what are we fighting exactly," Rakknar asked us and I sighed as I looked at the two of them.

"Well, you are the Yami and Mae is the Hikari, the rest we will explain a bit more about when we get the rest since we still have four people to get and I really hate explaining things more than once if I don't have to, now are you with us or not?" I explained then asked.

"Sure, we're in," Mae said and Rakknar nodded in agreement. I smirk it was harder but it still worked. I was still wondering how on earth this place was so light. After all, it seemed like it was more than just a safe spot seeing as it seemed to be a bit too big for that.

"Well, great, let's get back to the jet, I really don't want to leave Yugi there alone any more than we need too," Yami said and we all nodded.

"I've been wondering why this place seems so light... I mean, the rest of the world seems like a dump but this place... it's not really light but it's not as bad as some of the other places," Malik said looking around.

"I'm not sure," I said as I looked around, it seemed to be shifting slightly, clearly now it wasn't as bright as before. "Well, it doesn't seem to have lasted forever."

"Think he just didn't get to this part of the world yet?" Akane asked and I shook my head. That couldn't be it.

"It's been about a year since he was released, I doubt that's it. I think it might be because of Mae and Rakknar," Yami replied.

"That doesn't make sense, I mean, Sweden looked pretty bad but this place looks better than it did back there," Malik replied.

"I'm getting a little freaked out by your logic," I replied and he glared at me. "Then again, he makes a valid point."

"Well, then I have nothing to say about it, it just is that way," Yami replied and Akane looked back at Rakknar with a bit of a smile.

"Maybe Rakknar scared the monsters off or something," she said and we looked at her. What was she talking about? "I may remember very little of my past but I do remember enough that I know he was pretty bad ass back when we were young."

"I remember that, I don't know about it though. I didn't really have to kick any ass lately," Rakknar replied with a smile.

"Does it really matter?" Mae asked us and we shook our heads as we headed back to the jet. It was not too far from where we were.

"No, not really, it was just interesting since we are used to being... crap, we jinxed it," I muttered as monsters seemed to fly down out of nowhere. Diabound and Necrofear flew to help us. Some of the monsters seemed darker than usual, as if they were darker versions of the monsters we knew. It kind of sickened me to see it really. I don't know why but it annoyed me.

"Well, it seems like Diabound and Necrofear have in under control. Then again, there are a lot of them," Malik replied.

"Don't be so negative, Malik," Yami replied even if I could tell that he too was nervous about the whole issue. I didn't blame him. I had faith in my Ka, and in Necrofear but it seemed like they were having a bit of issues still.

"How are the lights?" Akane asked me and I scowled. I'd almost forgotten that we left them alone. Though they had three creatures protecting them, still, I was now worried too.

_"Amane, can you hear me?"_ I called to her, knowing that she was the only one I could contact and she wouldn't leave the group alone.

_"Bakura, what's going on? Are you alright?"_ Amane asked. She seemed concerned about us and I didn't blame her for that.

_"We're being attacked. Don't come. Diabound and Necrofear are handling things, how are things on your end?"_ I reply and ask worried for the sake of the lights. I guess that was what she meant. I mean, I had this urge to protect them all.

_"We haven't seen anything yet, we are going to be looking out seeing as you said we should but... oh shit, we're being attacked damn it, I've got to go."_ I growled as I was annoyed that they were being attacked by the monsters. I looked up at Diabound and Necrofear and back at the others.

"We have to move, the others are in trouble. I have complete faith in the three of them but I'd rather stay together if we can," I told them and they looked at each other and we started to run back towards the jet as Diabound and Necrofear tried to keep up with us. It was hard seeing as they were still being attacked. They weren't doing too bad though

"He really doesn't pull any punches does he?" Mae asked as we raced back as fast as we possibly could. Diabound and Necrofear blasting monsters left and right.

"Well, he's got a hoard of monsters at his disposal and all of them are testy and want a fight," I reply with a look behind me.

"Rakknar, look out," Akane called and he jumped out of the way, clearly we were losing ground and it wasn't good. There were more of them.

"Thanks Akane, I needed that. Seriously, isn't there anything we can do about this. It is ridiculous," he said as he looked at us.

"I'm not sure, Diabound and Dark Necrofear can handle them for a while, it's just that they keep on coming. We need something to just destroy... that'll work," Yami said as the sky was lit up and we looked up. I almost wanted to growl. Out of all the Monsters, it had to be them!

"Well, I guess that works, let's go," Malik said as we finally reached the jet and noticed that most of the monsters were almost all gone, again. I wondered if they got fed up with attacking since some of them seemed to leave. I looked up at our new companions and scowled at them. We walked into the jet and we looked around.

"You alright everyone?" Yami asked and we saw everyone. Well, we could barely see the little Kaiba brat... what was his name again... Mokuba? Still, I think he was hiding. The others stood there looking around. Kisara and Red-eyes were flying around the jet and so was Amane. The other four monsters were also there now too. After the rest of the monster vanished I looked up at them with a bit of a look on my face.

"Maahad, Mana," I said as the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl were now with us. "Trust you to always stick with the Pharaoh."

"I didn't quite expect to see you next to him to be honest," Maahad told me and I looked back at Diabound as if to try and find out how he was taking the change in events. After all, we were enemies and Diabound had destroyed Maahad and caused him to seal his soul in his monster.

"I never thought I'd be on your side either, but I suppose that's the way things work," I reply as I look at him with a bit of a smile on my face. "So I guess we have to put our pasts behind us."

"I guess so," he replied and then added the last part as everyone else was getting introduced. "For now at least." I only smirked at him.

**I hope this came out well. I feel like the monsters are under control of Zorc but at the same time he lets them have "fun" so they kind of just do what they want, which means some of them are loyal. Some of the monsters are done by name because it is quicker and easier to type.**


	10. When in Rome

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 10: When in Rome...**

"So Ryou, where too next?" Yugi asked my Hikari. It seemed that Mae and Temara knew each other a bit. They had met when Temara had moved to the states for a bit. They were right now talking to each other but looked over as Ryou shrugged.

"Well, let's see who we can find," he said with a smile as he lit the fire in his hand. He was getting better at it though, as much as I hated to admit it, Dark Magician would be able to help him learn a lot of magic.

"That's cool," Mae said and Rakknar nodded in agreement as Ryou concentrated on the fire that he had created in order to give us a picture of who we were to find next, we only needed four more people, it was looking pretty good for us if I said so myself.

"Bakura said we can all learn to create fire like this," Temara told her friend as Ryou showed us the flame. It was another pair of girls and Kaiba was on his computer in seconds. Computers: one of the things I loved about modern day.

"Well, it looks like we're heading to Rome," he stated as he showed us the pictures of the two girls. It seemed that they were different too but not as much as Mae and Rakknar looked. I nodded at Kaiba and he went to make the jet fly to Italy as the monsters took flight around us in order to give us cover. I wondered what Zorc was thinking right now. I smirked. It would be fun to find out really. I really wanted to kick his ass right now!

_"One step at a time,"_ Amane thought and I growled. Hadn't I told her to stop reading my mind? And who the hell was she to tell me what to do?

_"Shut up unless you have something important to tell me,"_ I replied irritated. She really got on my nerves sometimes, she was like an annoying sister or something. She wasn't even my sister! She was Ryou's sister for Ra's sake!

_"Well, sorry,"_ she thought not sounding sorry at all. I looked out the window where I could see her flying close to the jet. I guess I never said what she looked like did I? Well, she was a giant wolf (though she could change her size from what I'd seen) she was mostly white but she had some golden swirls around her body, she also had white bird wings. Her eyes were bright green and she looked kind of angelic, not like most of the monsters I was used to, to be honest.

"So, do you guys have Duel Monsters decks?" Joey asked the four of them. I would have thought that would be obvious! I mean, they would have to have since they were connected to the magic of the items even if they didn't know it. Thus the games that were created from the shadow games would be part of them too. Right?

"Yeah," they said and pulled them out. So I was right. They did have decks! Though I suppose that doesn't prove my theory but whatever!

"They seem like an interesting pair, what are they doing in Italy?" Marik asked as he looked at Kaiba's computer.

"Vacation I guess," Yami offered and I had to agree with him. What kind of question was that anyway? Though the next question that was asked would make that one sound normal.

"I thought we were going to Rome?" Malik asked and I sighed. He really needed to work on his Geography, this was ridiculous.

"Malik, Rome is the capital of Italy, here, look at this," Kaiba said with a sigh. Why was he actually being decent? I didn't care though! He pulled up a map on his computer of the world and showed it to the teen. "This is a map of the world with the capital cities on it."

"The world was much less complicated when I was still in Marik's head," he replied and I gave him an odd look. Maybe he wasn't as sane as we all thought he was. I really wouldn't be surprised.

"I'm not going to comment on that," Marik replied with a sigh as he sat back in his seat and pulled out a book and started to read.

"What are you reading," Temara asked him as she sat in the chair in front of him and leaned on the backrest.

"Nothing much, I'm just bored is all," Marik replied showing the book to the girl who shrugged at him and I wondered what that was about.

"I've read it, it's not bad but it's not the best book ever," she told him and he looked a little shocked as if she had said something wrong.

"Don't spoil it, I might only be reading this to relieve boredom but I don't want the ending spoiled," he replied. What?

"Hey, Terra, you still write, don't you?" Mae asked from her seat. She seemed to be playing a game with Ryou at the moment.

"Yeah, a bit, I haven't really gotten anything very much," Temara replied as she sat in her seat the right way.

"Well, it would be amusing if you wrote about this whole thing. I'm sure everyone would think you made the whole thing up but it would be fun to see what they think about it," Yugi replied looking up from whatever he had been doing.

"Yeah, that might work," the red-head stated as we kept on flying through the air. I think we were being attacked but our monsters were some of the best in the game so we didn't have much to worry about. I was wondering though. What happened to the gods?

_"Yami can summon them, but he also needs his name, both of you do," _Amane told me and I nodded mentally.

_"Well, that didn't really explain anything, but at least you're not complaining or annoying me this time," _I reply and I could swear she huffed at me.

_"You're annoying, you do realize that, I can't give you all the answers because that would make your life too easy and I'm not allowed to tell you everything," _she told me. That got me kind of interested, she hadn't said that part.

_"What do you mean you aren't allowed to tell me everything? Why do you have to hide things?" _I asked her.

_"Bakura, I'm here as a guide and a messenger, my job is to protect you guys and to give you what you need but I can't do anything. I'm not hiding things from you that you can't find out by yourself, I'm not supposed to interfere too much,"_ she told me.

_"And who told you that?"_ I demanded staring out the window at her and she turned her green eyes on me. Was there sadness there?

_"The one who allowed me to even take this form, Bakura, the gods have given me this chance but I may not do too much, which is why I was never able to help Ryou before now," _she replied.

"Malik, stop it," I heard Marik complain. I looked over to see that Malik have found a bag of nuts and instead of eating them he had taken to flicking them at his lighter half. Who was annoyed at the darker half of his soul.

"No," Malik replied simply and Marik just looked at the small pile of nuts on his seat. I assumed he was thinking about the idea of throwing them back at the dark.

"Don't toss them back to him, it'll only give him more of a chance to throw them again," I told him and he looked at me. Why was I giving him advice anyway? It was his problem, not mine!

"Good point Bakura," Marik said as it seemed Malik had run out of nuts. He groaned and started to get up. Presumably to get more nuts to chuck, though I wondered if he was going to start throwing them at other people; I would probably be a target.

"I don't think so," Kaiba said looking up from his computer and glaring at the teen who sat back down. If there as anything I knew about Seto or his former self was that you do not cross them when they are in a bad mood. It never ended well. I had tried my best to avoid him out of all the priests because I knew he was trouble. I suppose I mostly felt that way because, even if he was the son of the high priest and cousin to Yami he was still raised out of the palace.

"This jet goes quite fast really," Akane said as she looked out the window and down to see where we were. "I mean, normal flights take longer."

" Well, this is not a normal flight. This is state of the art technology and there aren't many planes in the area seeing as no one really wants to go outside these days," Kaiba replied.

"Not that staying inside will do them much good," I replied bitterly and I heard a gasp or two. "Well, I'm just surprised the world is still mostly alright right now personally."

"Well, maybe it's because we're here," Yugi suggested and we looked at him so he went on. "Well, if Yami is supposed to save the world and the rest of us are supposed to help then maybe he can't fully take control until he's destroyed us."

"You may have a point, Yugi, though I don't know if that is all the truth about it," I replied and I watched as some of them were looking out the window.

"Well, there has been some damage done for sure," Rakknar replied. I had already figured out about him. We all had. We were getting to know each other quite well over this time. It was strange how that worked but I guess if you have to save the world you'd like to know who you're working with. Right?

"Oh wow, that looks pretty bad, I guess they're going around places and destroying what they can," Ryou said looking out too.

"I guess they are everywhere we just haven't been looking too hard," Marik suggested as he too looked out the window and I wondered what they were looking at.

"You do realize that Rome... oh Ra," Yugi said as he looked out, I walked over to see what was getting everyone's attention. We all stared at the sight that was below us. Even Kaiba looked a tiny bit shocked which meant that he was really surprised. Most of the houses looked destroyed. It was almost like a Hurricane had come through the city.

"This will take a while to rebuild after Zorc is destroyed," I mutter darkly as I look around the place where we were going to land.

"It looks like not very many people actually survived the incident," Mae said as we started to descend on Rome. I didn't know much about History but seeing it like this seemed bad. Even Malik was gazing at it in a bit of shock.

"This is the world you wanted Bakura," Yami told me and I looked into his eyes. I knew he was trying to tell me what I'd done wrong and I looked out of the window again.

"No, this isn't what I wanted. I wanted to hurt you but I never wanted this. I never wanted revenge and even when I did, it was only for the person who killed my family, not the world," I replied looking away from the scene outside. "This is what Zorc wanted."

"The world is not lost yet, we have to win, that is the only way to stop this," Yami said and I looked at him again and again our eyes locked somehow we just knew something in that moment. It was like we had once been friends and neither of us remembered. As if once, a long time ago, we promised to do anything for each other and that we'd stand side-by-side through anything. I knew we hadn't always been enemies but had we once been friends?

_"You never know,"_ I was sure Amane didn't know either, she just felt like being a pest. Honestly, she was like an annoying little sister that never left you alone, especially when you wanted to be alone.

"Are you coming Bakura?" Malik called to me and I looked at the Yami who were standing outside the jet already. I looked back to see the Hikari watching us. Mae didn't look to happy about being left behind but she seemed to be having a talk with Temara so I knew she would stay. Or I hoped she would.

"Alright, let's get a move on, the faster we can find these people the faster we can destroy our enemy," I told them as I walked ahead of them a bit.

"Says the guy who was daydreaming," Rakknar replied and I sent him a glare as Malik chuckled behind me. So I glared at him too. And he did the childish move of sticking his tongue out at me. So I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Boys, boys, we're all friends here," Akane said though she seemed to be a bit amused by the small fight we were having. "We do have a mission after all."

"That's right, we do," Malik said as if he'd forgotten. I noticed Diabound and Necrofear but I was also shocked to see Maahad following us.

"Maahad, what are you doing here?" I asked looking up at him, the others looked too so the Magician came down to us.

"I wished to help my Pharaoh, Mana is with the others. They didn't seem to need me," he replied seeming to know that it annoyed me.

"Whatever, just don't get in the way," I replied and he gave me a look. We locked eyes and it was clear that we felt the same way as the other. I don't know if it was hatred really.

"You two are like brothers," Akane stated and we looked at each other with surprise written all over our faces at her comment.

"What?" we both asked. Great, that was very intelligent. I mean come on! Is that the best response I have to a comment like that?

"Well, the way the two of you act towards each other, it's like two brothers. Trust me, I've had a few, I know how they act," she replied.

"I know, you're family was quite large wasn't it?" Rakknar asked and Akane nodded as I looked at the man-turned-duel-monsters and we looked away as if deciding not to talk to each other again.

"As if I'd want to be related to a thief like him," Maahad replied and I rolled my eyes. Was that really the best he had?

"Oh don't act so high and mighty, I know you aren't as virtuous as you think you are seeing as I know you play dirty," I replied.

"I would have to with someone like you," he replied and I scowled. I could feel Diabound seeming a bit agitated. I guess he didn't know if he should attack or not.

"Not that I really care what you do," I replied walking two newest members of the group we were supposed to get.

"Well, to be honest; I actually have to thank you," he told me and I stopped dead in my tracks. Had I heard him right? Judging by the others it seemed I had.

"What in the name of Ra are you talking about?" I asked him with a glare in his direction before I started to walk again.

"Well, think about it. I suppose I should be annoyed that you almost killed me and forced me to seal myself into my Ka but if you hadn't done that then I wouldn't be able to be here and continue to serve my Pharaoh," he replied and I nodded.

"Well, if that is how you want to look at it then I suppose it works," I replied as we neared the area that we would find the two girls at.

"I really don't think that'll work you know," we heard a female voice say to someone else and we noticed the two girls. One seemed to be trying to move some of the rubble away from whatever they were trying to get too.

"Then come here and help me," the other girl said with a sigh as she sat on the ground. I wondered what she was trying to get at.

"There's really no point to it at all," the first girl replied. The second girl looked up at her. I was thinking she was the Hikari.

"Mayve, why are you being this way, it has to move," the Hikari stated and the Yami, now known as Mayve, sighed.

"Vensisillie, it's hopeless you know," Mayve replied. "Besides, what is so important that you have to move that stuff anyway?"

"There's something stuck there and I need to get it out," the girl replied and I looked up at the three monsters that were flying around us, Maahad seemed to know what I was thinking. I had a new kind of respect for him. After all, he seemed to try and be nice. I saw Diabound go down too. Mayve seemed to react as if wondering if they would try and attack but they didn't, instead they moved the rubble was I knew they were going too.

"Thanks, Vensisillie told the monsters who just nodded. She bent down and picked up whatever it was that she had been trying to help as we walked forwards.

"Who are you people?" Mayve asked as the two girls looked at us. It was then that I noticed that the small thin was an animal, and more specifically a cat.

"We are here to ask you to help us save the world," Rakknar replied so we told them about what we had to do.

"And we can also get that guy some help," Akane said gesturing to the cat that was in the girl's arms. They looked at each other.

It had been easier to get them to come than the other two but they still agreed. the kitten was being taken care off as we looked at it. "Well, we need to name it something."

"Well, it's a girl so I think we should call her Venus," Temara stated with a smile. I had no idea what that was about. I knew Venus was a planet but what did that have to do with a cat?

"Why do you want to name the cat after a planet?" I asked her and she chuckled slightly, it seemed Ryou knew what she was talking about.

"Venus is not just a planet. In Roman mythology Venus was the goddess of love and beauty. I thought that since we were in Rome so she was most likely born in Rome it would work to use Roman deities and then seeing as it was Vensisillie's love for her that saved her it made sense," Temara replied.

"I suppose," I replied. I hadn't paid that much attention to any other gods except for those of Egypt and even them I hadn't taken much stock of for some time.

**I hope this chapter came out well. I was going to have it be a dog at first but then I thought of the cat goddess of Egypt and I made it a cat, Venus was just for fun and don't ask why they were in Rome... but I got to do a slightly corny title so anyway.**


	11. Last but not Least

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 11: Last but not Least**

We were off again, heading, this time, to England. It was strange, I couldn't believe that we were winning. I mean, we had almost the whole group together now so it seemed things were looking up. Most of them didn't know how to fight but it wasn't too bad actually. I look around. Ryou was talking to Temara about England since they had both been there for some period in their lives. The others were doing other things. "Bakura."

"What is it?" I asked looking back at Marik who was sitting looking at the other Hikari then back at me as if he was trying to see if they agreed.

"We were thinking, we wanted to all go this time, I mean, there is no point in staying behind. We're safer either way," Marik admitted and I looked at the others who nodded. Even Joey looked like he wanted to come with us. Mokuba and Kaiba were looking at each other as if trying to decide what to do.

"Why are you asking me about it. I'm not the leader here," I said. What was I saying? It seemed I had changed and it hadn't been too long since we started this little journey. Personally, I would say that without Zorc I was a better person. Was I a better person really?

"Yami," Marik said turning to the Pharaoh. The two of us needed to find out what our names were. That didn't really sound fun but we had no choice apparently.

"Oh, alright," Yami said and I looked over. I guess the Pharaoh was soft. He got beat by the puppy-dog eyes! Ha! I wouldn't be defeated by a child trick like that!

"Cool," the Hikari said in unison. They seemed to really want to help. I don't know why, I always thought the lights would be against fighting, except for Marik but he was different.

"Can we go too, Seto?" Mokuba asked his brother. It was odd that we still called him Kaiba. I mean, we all stopped calling Ryou, Bakura, a while back. Then again, it could have something to do with me. It annoyed me. We didn't know the two names we needed! I wish I could remember everything! I might even have known Yami's name if I could remember! Gods, Zorc really did hide a lot from me! Damn him! How dare he hide things from me!

"Hey, Bakura, are you alright?" Ryou asked me and I nodded at him with a bit of a smile. He then turned back to his talk but I saw him look over his shoulder as if to make sure I was alright.

"If we all go, who's going to take care of Venus?" I asked and they all turned to me. It was odd, they seemed to have forgotten the cat that we had with us. "We can't take her with us."

"And we can't leave her alone, which means at least one of us has to stay behind," Malik added and I gave him a look.

"No one is staying here alone," Akane said and the rest of the Yami agreed with her comment and we all looked at Kaiba, he hadn't answered his little brother yet.

"Mokuba, maybe, you, Joey and I should stay here and take care of Venus," he replied. It was odd, when he wasn't in public he was a different person. He really was trying to uphold his reputation. Well, I would be OK with that, after all, we were using his money to be able to save the world here.

"Alright," Mokuba agreed as he went to look at the cat. She was sleeping at the moment. I think there was something about it being a cat. Somehow I felt like Bastet, the cat goddess, was watching us through Venus. It was an odd thought but weirder things had happened!

"Man, I was looking forward to kicking some butt, though I can always protect you two if I need too," Joey replied. I knew he had been in fights before but he seemed to be a little too confident that he could fight shadow monsters.

"Sure thing, Mutt," Kaiba replied and I chuckled slightly as Joey was about to reply. I knew they cared about each other. No one could fight that much and not care... I have no idea how I knew this kind of stuff. Ever since Zorc was in my head I haven't thought of these things. So why now?

"Hey, Joey," I said and the blond turned to me and I felt in my pocket. I smiled at him as I pulled it out though no one else could see it as of yet. "Seeing as you were in a gang I assume you know how to fight."

"What about it?" he asked. I took that as a 'yes' and walked over. I handed him what was in my hand and he looked at it.

"If you know how to use it, take it, It has some of my power in it. Therefore you can actually destroy shadow monsters instead of just making them angry. You will have Kisara and Red-eyes but if you need it then use it," I replied.

"I haven't used one in years," he told me but I could tell he still knew how. I think he was just a bit nervous about using it.

"Joey, I know you're more worried about using it, trust me, if the time comes you'll thank me," I replied going back to my seat and he looked at it. It wasn't a very special blade to be honest but I had learned how to put shadow magic into them.

"I hope I don't," he replied and I looked at him. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. Though for some of them it was as if they wanted me to give them one as well.

"For your sake, I hope so too," I replied as I looked out the window. It was dark as if it was night but it was supposed to be the middle of the day. All the weather channels said the same thing; storms everywhere. In the places where it snowed there was so much that even they had trouble keeping up with it all. The weather was crazy but so were the attacks. The news was all about it but no one could explain it. People became sick or they were attacked and always the same thing; monsters. But most people didn't believe them because monster's didn't exist.

"Is it easy to put shadow magic into weapons?" Malik asked and I looked over. I could see Mayve and Rakknar listening so I knew they had the same question as the blond Yami.

"Quite easy actually," I replied. Even Akane and Yami looked over at this comment as if they wanted to know how to do it too. "Come over here. I can show you."

"How did you learn how to do this?" Yami asked as we walked over to a place where there was a table. The other Yami sat down around it too so that I could show them.

"Accident actually, I was really angry and it just sort of happened. All you need to do is take the thing you want to use as a conductor to your power. You then focus on it. If you can feel the power in you, you can channel it to the blade," I replied.

"Sounds like some form of spiritual thing but whatever," Rakknar stated and I gave him a look. Was he taking this seriously or not?

"It is a bit, I guess. It's a good trick to know and it doesn't take much strength to master so I like using it," I replied with a sigh.

"It can destroy shadow monsters?" Yami asked me as they tried to conduct their power into their items and succeeded after a while.

"Yeah, normal blades will only make them mad, this will destroy them in a way that other shadow monsters do," I replied as the plane started to descend slightly. "Well, I guess we're here."

"Thank you captain obvious," Malik replied and I glared at him. He only rolled his eyes at me. Who did he think he was rolling his eyes at me?

"I know it rains a lot in England but at this rate the isles may be flooded," Temara said as she looked out the window. I hadn't really been paying attention. I wondered how the rain would affect our monsters, seeing as most of them flew around a lot.

"Let's hope it doesn't get flooded," Ryou replied and the girl nodded in agreement as they looked out the window.

"Too late, some parts are already under water," Marik replied unhelpfully as he was looking at Kaiba's computer and was on the internet.

"We'd better make sure we find these girls and fast then," Akane replied simply as she pulled on a rain coat and looked at everyone in the group.

"Didn't they seem young to you?" Yugi asked as we all gathered in one area of the plane as if that would help us get ready.

"Like you do," I teased. When did I start teasing people? Yami gave me a look but somehow he seemed to have figured out I was only teasing.

"They're only eight," Kaiba told us. Why did that shock me? They were young. How on earth were they supposed to save anyone at that age?

"Well, that's just great, the last thing we needed were more kids," Malik muttered as if having the same thought as I did. He was looking at Mokuba for a bit so I knew what he was thinking about.

"Just because they're children doesn't mean they act like it, they may have grown up fast," Ryou said. Was he looking at me when he was saying that?

"There is nothing we can do about this anyway," Yami replied. I agreed with him on that. Not that I would say it out loud. We had no choice. It was destiny. And I hate destiny! Then again, it's strange. I feel calmer than before.

_"I told you to wait and you'd learn about the nature of a Hikari and Yami pair," _Amane told me and I growled in my mind.

_"And I thought I told you not to read my mind! Still, I have no idea what you're talking about," _I replied annoyed at her for reading my thoughts again.

_"You do know," _was all she said. It really annoyed me! How she only said a little bit. AS if she was waiting for me to fill in the rest! AS if she thought I could actually read her mind!

"Bakura, are you talking to your duel monster friend again?" Marik asked me. Was he amused? There was nothing to be amused about!

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked him as I sat in my seat watching the rain pelt down on the window. I almost missed Egypt. There it rarely rained. It was beautiful in its own way. I never had to worry. Well, about the heat but I got used to that. Now I have to deal with rain, it was such a pain.

"Well, I was only wondering if she said anything interesting. I mean, I wonder what a person and a duel monster can have as a talk," Marik replied.

"Not much apparently. She doesn't say much except vague things that I'm supposed to figure out by myself," I replied still looking out the window. Even if I could see Marik's reflection in the window.

"I would think it depends on the monster though. I mean, think about it. Some of them would have more to say than others," Marik continued and I turned to face him.

"Why does it even matter?" I asked him and he seemed a bit taken aback. What was with him? Who really cared about what they would say to you if they could?

"I was only trying to make conversation," Marik replied with a sigh as he looked at everyone else. Things seemed tense. It was almost upsetting. I guessed everyone was excited for what was going to come next. In some ways I was too. I kind of just wanted this to be over. It was almost like this was punishment for my sins. To go back and destroy Zorc... odd form of redemption really.

"Next time try not to have it about such a pointless topic," I replied simply and he sighed as he turned away from me.

"We're going to be landing soon," Temara said, probably to relieve some of the tension that was building up. I think part of it was curiosity. What would happen when we found the last two members? How were we going to find the items? How were we going to find our names? I mean, Yami's name is probably documented somewhere but mine... I highly doubt it.

"I'm tempted to jump out right now," Malik informed us and I gave him a look but I wasn't the one to reply.

"Go ahead, I'd follow you," I gave Rakknar a look but he didn't seem to mind as the other two seemed to be deciding if it was a good idea. Yami and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"No one is jumping out," Yami and Kaiba said at the same time. I sniggered at that. I mean. I know they're reincarnations but they really are cousins in some ways.

"What's so funny, thief?" Yami wanted to know and I turned to him with a smirk on my face. I wasn't about to be all nice.

"For your information: I'm not just any thief. I'm the King of Thieves! Also, I was laughing at how you and Kaiba really are cousins and you act like it," I replied.

"Cousins?" they said together and I blinked. Then it hit me! They didn't know it! I knew something about the past that I must have forgotten but they couldn't have known it.

"Yes, cousins, your dads were brothers," I replied. How did I know these things? Where did the thoughts come from?

"That would explain so much and yet so little," Mayve said and some of the others laughed a bit. It was fun that someone who had just met us a few hours ago could make fun of the others.

"Bakura, what else do you remember from the past?" Yami asked me and I looked back at him as we started to get really close to the ground. We would land in the next few minutes.

"Not enough. I only know some things. That was just random. I don't even know how I found that out," I replied simply. It was true. I wanted all my memories!

"Well, we're here," Akane spoke up as the plane landed simply on the ground. I liked how it was very quiet. It made our lives easier. The group of us, Minus, Kaiba, Joey and Mokuba, left the jet and stood out in the pouring rain. I really could see how this place would be under water in a few more years.

_"Bakura, you and the rest have to be careful, some of us are having trouble flying through this rain," _Amane told me. Somehow I felt this wasn't normal rain. Nothing was normal with Zorc.

"All of you be alert. Our shadow monsters are having trouble flying and this rain doesn't seem normal," I reply as I look up into the sky as the rain fell down. I saw them trying to fly around but they seemed slowed as if they were getting weighed down by the rain.

"I think Zorc knows we're winning," Malik commented as he looked up too and frowned slightly. He must hate the rain as much as I do.

"If he does then we're going to have to be extra careful, after all, there is no way we can win if he finds out our weaknesses, or catches us off guard," Yami said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Pharaoh," I replied and he gave me a look but I ignored him. Instead I watched as some figures appeared in the distance.

"Who do you think they are?" Marik asked in a whisper so that if they were enemies they couldn't hear us. It didn't much matter; by the way they were acting they'd noticed us.

"There are too many of them to be our newest members," Mae replied. She had a point. Which means we can bet their trouble.

"They look human though," Vensisillie stated and we looked and nodded. I knew that it was nothing to really take for granted though.

I heard the sound first. "Get down," I said in a loud whisper and everyone jumped to the ground as a couple of beams shot over our heads. it was Shadow Magic so these weren't humans.

"I think the Shadow Monsters are learning how to take human form," Malik muttered as he stood back up and pulled out a few of his knives that had shadow magic in them.

"It's always possible," Yami replied as he pulled out his own weapons. So did the rest of the Yami as I watched them.

"They seem to take the form of the person they were before they were brought out. At least that is what it looks like," I reply as I look at the group.

"Well, let's fight," Rakknar said simply and the rest of us nodded. We made a circle around the Hikari as we readied ourselves for the incoming attack. We hadn't even gotten that far from the jet.

The figures attacked us and it was slightly confirmed. I mean, how many people have claws and fangs? that may not be the best question but they really weren't human. And they also didn't fight like humans. They seemed almost a bit stronger than they should be. I wanted to tell the Lights to get back to the jet but it wasn't going to work, they would be exposed and I don't think they would be fast enough.

Everyone was fighting hard. Though most of us had at least one scratch by now and a few bruises. We fought on as if nothing mattered but the moment. It seemed that was the truth. We had only one goal right now: win the fight.

It wasn't easy, it almost seemed that when we cut one down another ten took the place of that one. It was very annoying to say the least. It also seemed like they weren't getting tired but we were slowing down. I barely had time to glance over to see if everyone else was alright and it cost me a cut on my leg. That stung a lot and I growled. No one hurt me!

I heard a roar and I looked up to see our monsters fly over our heads. Amane dived down in order to help. The others followed her but they were really not doing too well. Her fur was wet with rain and her wings looked like they weighted to much to give her much flight. Maahad and Mana didn't seem to know what to do about the rain.

I defeated my opponent and went to find out if anyone else needed help. I could feel my leg protest every time I put some weight on it but I couldn't care about that right now. "Amane, look out!"

It was too late! Damn it! She had taken a cut to her front shoulder. It was going to leave a mark, but also, she seemed down for the count. She shrunk, probably out of pain. She looked so vulnerable that I thought about how she was really a nine year old... what was I thinking? We were in the middle of a battle for our lives here! It didn't matter how old we were!

"No," Ryou yelled but he didn't seem to know why he cared. He ran over, forgetting everything, the danger that was around him, and rushed to his sister. Even if he didn't know who it was.

"Ryou, look out!" I called and he looked up but I wasn't going to be fast enough. Wes he going to get hurt again because of me? Was this what Yami felt whenever Yugi or his friends were in danger?

"Nice one Skyler," a voice said and I noticed that someone had killed the creature that was attacking my Hikari, I ran over to see if he was alright. Then I looked up to see two girls. One of them was cutting down monsters with a sword and the other was watching out.

"Is he ok?" the girl who wasn't fighting asked me and I looked down at my host and then at Amane. He seemed a little shaken but nothing too bad. He had worse. I turned to his sister and looked at her. She seemed so helpless it was scaring me.

"I think they'll both be fine," I replied. I knew shadow monsters didn't die the same way that normal people did. Besides, she was already dead. If she was going to vanish she would have probably done it already.

"thank you," I said. I thought Ryou was still in a bit of shock. I knew everyone wanted to run over and see what had happened but they were busy fighting and didn't want to lose the fight, or their lives.

"It's alright, I'm Rayne, and that's Skyler," she said and I knew who they were. They were the newest members of our group and they didn't act like eight year olds, or at least, Skyler didn't.

"I'm Bakura, you'll meet everyone later, right now we've got something to do, but what brings you here?" I asked her as I stood up. I knew they were going to attack me again and I wasn't going to be taken by surprise if I could help it.

"I can see the future," she replied simply. Well I knew which item she would have then. "I had a dream and I told Sky, she said we should follow what my dream said and so we came here."

"Well then, just don't die," I told her as I started to fight again. The Hikari were sticking to their respective Yami, not getting in the way but at the same time, not straying too far away.

"I wasn't planning on it," she replied with a smile on her face as I fought. I attacked one of the ones who was trying to attack Amane. How dare they attack something that was already down!

"I think not," I snarled as I cut him down. I sighed, this was getting us nowhere fast. "Guys, let's try and get back to the jet!"

"Alright, I like that plan," Akane replied as the Yami fought hard to protect their respective Hikari. Ryou leaned over to pick up Amane who was almost the size of a small dog right now.

"You got her?" I asked and he nodded in agreement so he carried her back to the jet as I made sure they were both safe. My leg barely hurt anymore. I guess the pain had lessened. It probably had even scabbed up by now. I barely notice wounds like that.

I looked over my shoulder to see how everyone else was doing. Akane was shooting arrows like a pro and she was near the back of the group. Rakknar was with her and fighting too. Malik was seeming to enjoy himself as he protected his light. Skyler was still swinging her sword. Mayve was helping her out. I looked over at Yami and found he was seriously limping. Yugi noticed my look and seemed to mouth 'help'.

"Ryou, let Yugi carry her, Yami needs help," I told my light and he looked back at Yugi and then nodded. He gently lay the fallen shadow monster in the shorter boy's arms and then let Yami lean on him. The way his leg looked I would have to say he managed to break it somehow. I would have to ask him about that later. I had to protect the three of them. The others seemed to have noticed our slight weakness and came to stand around us. The Hikari moved in, Marik helping Ryou support the Pharaoh as I went to stand with the group in a circle.

We were in that circle for the rest of the slightly short journey back to the jet where the other three were waiting for us. It didn't seem like they had much issue right now which was a good thing. We got in, soaked and annoyed. I had forgotten it was really raining to be honest. "Is Yami alright?" Joey asked.

"He's hurt," Yugi replied as they put Yami in one of the seats and then they put Amane in another one. I walked over to Yami and sighed.

"The way it looks, you've managed to break your leg. Now how did you manage that, Pharaoh?" I asked him sarcastically.

"Shut up, Thief King," he replied and I smirked. It was nice to hear my old title again after so long. Still, I knew we had to fix it or it could heal wrong.

"Still, I'm no doctor but I do know that if your leg is really broken you'd better hope your bones are where they should be or they'd heal wrong, that hurts," I informed him.

"Where are we going, Seto?" Joey asked though he was looking at Yami as if worried for the sake of the Pharaoh.

"We're going to someone who I trust who will be able to heal us if we need it," Kaiba said looking mostly at Yami. We then went through introductions. It was tense and silent for a while after that.

"I'm knew to this whole thing, but is she supposed to be glowing?" Rayne asked pointing to Amane who was glowing with a soft white light.

"I think she's transforming," I reply and it was true. She was starting to grow and her shape was shifting. I was sure she was turning into her nine year old form.

"I thought you said you couldn't take your human form yet," I said out loud knowing somehow that she was able to talk out loud now.

"Things have changed, Bakura," she replied as she came into view. She really did look a lot like Ryou but there were notable differences between sister and brother.

"Amane," Ryou breathed and her eyes turned to him. They were filled with sorrow. "Is that Really you, Amane?"

"Yes, Ryou, it is, I'm sorry I couldn't talk to you before. I was not allowed to show you who I was, the only one who knew was Bakura but he wasn't allowed to tell you," Amane replied.

"It's alright, I'm just glad you're here," he replied running over and hugging her. They hugged each other as the others looked confused.

"Who is she?" Marik asked for the group as they watched the girl who was done hugging her brother and he sat in the seat next to her.

"Isn't it obvious, she's Amane Bakura, Ryou's sister," I replied simply as the others looked from one to the other.

"I never knew you even had a sister," Yugi said gently.

"She died years ago so I never talked about it much," Ryou replied simply with a sad smile on his face.

"Sorry," everyone said. I didn't but Ryou seemed to know that I meant too. I wasn't sure if I did though.

"It's alright, but I was wondering, how did you get back here?" Ryou asked and she chuckled. I hadn't given it that much thought really.

"Alright, I think it is time to explain, and I am allowed to. Sit everyone, I'm going to tell you about how I became what I am now; the messenger of Light," she replied and we all sat down to hear what she had to say.

**This is the longest I've done for this story, it almost reached 5,000 words, I've done longer but it still works well for what I wanted. Again, this last part was a random idea that came to me so I started writing. So next chapter is another story.**


	12. The Story of Amane: Messanger of Light

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 12: The Story of Amane: Messenger of Light**

She watched us for a little bit as we sat down around the plane to hear her story. I could tell that Ryou was excited about hearing what his sister had to say. I was curious to be honest. "It all started on the day I died."

**Amane's Point of View**

We were heading off to the zoo. Dad was out again but neither Ryou or I minded too much. We were used to him being out. Our mom had decided to take us out for a little trip before my birthday. It was all going great, the sun was shining and nothing could ruin this day. Oh how wrong I was.

My mom was a good driver and we were always safe in the car. We both knew that no matter how good our parents were we should wear our seatbelts and we were. Clearly not everyone was a good driver though. Ryou saw it first.

"Look out!" he yelled as a car turned out of a street too fast right in front of us. Mom tried to turn the car so we wouldn't hit it but it was too late. The front of the other car plowed into the left side of our car. Ryou was on the right side of the car so he wasn't hit as hard. "Amane!" I heard him calling out my name. "Mom!"

My vision had already gone black. All my senses were fading. I couldn't feel anything. I heard Ryou screaming out to us but neither of us responded. I heard sirens but by that time I was already slipping. I knew I was going to die. It was sad; it was such a nice day.

The next thing I knew I was in a strange place. I looked around me but I didn't see much at all. It was like an expanse of white, black and grey merged into one place. The colours swirled together as if the white and black were separate but yet the same; It was very odd. "Hello!" I called wondering if anyone could hear me.

"It is so sad for one such as you to die so young," a female voice said and I looked around trying to find the source.

"Who are you?" I asked looking around as a woman materialized in front of me and I blinked as she seemed to emit a strange light. "And where am I?"

"Who I am is not important at this current moment, child, but as for where you are. This place is a place between life and death, it is, shall we say, a gateway. Some souls decide to wait for their loved ones before they move on, this is where they go," the woman said. "Now I have a question for you: Would you like to move on yet?"

"Before I answer that, please, answer me this: are my mommy and brother alright?" I asked in reply looking around the place.

"You're brother is in the hospital but it is clear to me that he shall be fine, unfortunately your mother was not so lucky," the woman informed me.

"If it's all the same to you ma'am, I would like to wait for my brother," I reply hoping that she wouldn't say no.

"It is your choice child, the gods will not judge you until you are ready," she told me and then looked around. "There are others that are wandering this realm, you may talk with them if you wish to do so. Also, I feel it fair to tell you that your mother has moved on."

"Thank you very much," I replied with a bit of a smile. I didn't mind that my mom had chosen to move on to the afterlife but I wasn't ready. I was glad that Ryou was going to be fine. The woman smiled sadly at me before she vanished and I looked around. I wasn't sure how I was going to find anyone else but I did feel it would pass the time between now and the time my brother got here. I wondered, aimlessly through the realm looking around. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going.

"Hey," I heard a voice say as I bumped into someone. I fell down from the impact and I looked up to meet the brown eyes gaze of a girl who couldn't have been too much older than me.

"Sorry," I said as she reached her hand out to me. I took it as I smiled at her. "I wasn't watching where I were I was going."

"First time always does that to you, I'm Korana," she said with a smile at me as she helped me to my feet. Then she sighed and sat, I followed her example.

"My name's Amane, I guess you're waiting for someone too," I said looking around and then back at her. She was a nice person it seemed. I wondered how she had died.

"My brother," she replied with a distant look in her eyes. "it's been a long time but... I will wait until he can come here."

"I'm waiting for my brother too, I died a little while ago. My mom moved on but I wanted to stay behind to wait for him," I replied thinking about him. I hoped he wouldn't be too upset about my death.

I have a feeling I know what happened to the rest of my family but I managed to end up here and I will wait forever to see my brother again," she replied.

"How long have you been here then?" I asked. by the look on her face it had been long enough that most people would have given up.

"Well, I've learned that time works differently here than it does in the normal realm but I think it's been over five thousand years," she replied and I stared at her.

"What? But he must have died by now," I said and then realized what I'd said. "I Mean, I'm not trying to be mean but still, that's long."

"Amane, have you ever heard of anything called the Millennium Items?" she asked me. She was looking straight at me now.

"Hmm, the term is vaguely familiar. I think my dad may have said something about it at some point. He's an archeologist and he works in Egypt a lot. He says that there was some myth about something that mentioned Millennium items or something. He told us about them right before he left for his latest trip," I replied. "Why?"

"Amane, the Items are not a myth. They are real objects created over five thousand years ago," she told me and I looked into her dark eyes as she started to explain what happened to her and her family on the night of the creation of the items.

"And what happened to your brother?" I asked after she was done telling me how the items were formed. I went a bit pale at the information. I was sure I would have puked if I could.

"My brother was the last survivor, he was broken and someone took advantage of that. You see, when the items were created they partially brought the god of darkness to our world. His name was Zorc and he used my little brother. He had no one else to rely on and Zorc poisoned his mind with lies, he trained him and my brother started to hate the Pharaoh, blaming him for our death and thinking that placing the items in the stone would bring us out and free. The thing he never knew was that it would bring about the destruction of the world and himself. He knew Zorc wanted to rule the world but he actually thought that Zorc would let him live," she said sadly.

"Poor boy," I reply sadly as I looked down at the ground thinking about my own brother and how he must feel to know we were now dead. Korana put her hand on my shoulder and I looked up at her. I could feel tears coming to my eyes. "I'm so sorry."

"I know you are," she said as she pulled me into a hug, "I don't have to tell you anymore if you don't want to hear it."

"No, please go on, I would like to know," I reply as I wrap my arms around her. I felt her shake a bit and I knew she was trying to keep her own tears in.

"Alright, my brother and Zorc challenge the Pharaoh. Zorc had merged with my brother and the Pharaoh had to do something. He used the power of the items and his own name to seal Zorc's power into the items, sealing his soul into the Millennium Puzzle and my brother's soul into the Ring at the same time."

"So now you're brother is trapped in the Millennium Ring with Zorc?" I asked and she nodded. "But so is the Pharaoh then."

"Technically yes, though most of Zorc is inside the Ring there is a part of him in all the items. They have dark powers that they had even before they were sealed but the items can also be used for good," she told me and I nodded so she went on. "It is true that the Pharaoh has a part of Zorc in him and he must overcome that. The Puzzle and Ring will find a modern day wielder who will have to bare the spirit of the Pharaoh or my brother. It is likely that the one destined to bare the Puzzle will be able to save the Pharaoh from the part of Zorc in the Puzzle and help him save the world."

"What about the Ring, and the other items?" I asked her wondering if anyone was going to save her brother.

"Some of the other items might go to new wielders in the modern day and those few will have to overcome the darkness the items will bring. If they are able to do this they will be fine. The Ring and my brother are another story. I think that Zorc has too much control over my brother, it won't be easy to save him from the darkness," she replied with a sad smile at me.

"I'm sure he can be saved," I replied smiling up at her and she smiled gratefully down at me. It was silent for a moment as neither of us knew what to say. I pulled away and sat next to her again.

"I'm sure he can too but it won't be easy," she replied with a distant look in her eyes. "Still, I have this strange feeling that he will be saved."

"Yeah, and I have the weirdest feeling that my brother's life is going to get a lot more interesting from now on," I replied and she looked at me.

"Amane, I almost hope I'm wrong but... I think our brother's lives will intertwine," she said and I looked at her for a second.

"You mean my brother will get the Ring?" I asked her and she nodded. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or not. After all, I knew my brother may be able to help hers but still. There was a demon living in there.

"It is unfortunate that I have to admit that you are correct, Korana," the voice from before said and we turned to see the woman back again.

"Lady Horakhty," Korana said standing up and bowing. I followed her example. I wasn't sure who this was but obviously she was important.

"Yes, children, and as I said, the Ring has found its host and it now belongs to Ryou Bakura," I gasped a tiny bit. I was curious how this would affect my brother.

"And what of the Puzzle?" Korana said putting her arms around me as if knowing that I was worried about my little brother.

"Although I believe that it now belongs to one Yugi Moto he has not managed to solve it as of yet. Until he is able to do this we are not sure if he is the chosen holder of the item and the Pharaoh's soul will not be released," Horakhty told us.

"So, what happens now?" I asked still not sure what to think I wanted to wait for my brother but I felt like all I could do was sit and hope he was fine.

"Now, I wouldn't be here just to tell you two that," she said with a smile at us. "I have something I need you to do."

"Umm, I might be missing something but, who exactly are you?" I asked confused and she smiled and chuckled slightly.

"Forgive me, I am Horakhty, the goddess of light and also, the sister of Zorc," she said the last part with a look of irritation on her face.

"Well, what is it you would like of us, goddess," Korana asked politely. I was in awe now, I was speaking to a goddess.

"Well, I know how fate will play out and I have to say I am not too pleased with the way things are playing out. I know how the world must be saved but to do this they will need help. You see, there is a prophecy told the day the items were formed. I know what the prophecy will entail now.

"When two become one  
And the items are held by a wielder each  
When light and dark merge  
And the power of fourteen becomes the power of seven

The darkness shall be vanquished  
As old enemies become allies  
United they will stand  
Protecting what they hold dear

For alone they cannot survive  
Alone their power is to weak  
However, with the power of ancient times  
They shall survive and fight

Their task to bring the end of a long battle  
Fought through body and mind  
As souls rage and scream  
Release in the name of one

"What does it all mean?" I asked when she was finished. It seemed kind of dark to me and I wasn't sure I liked to sound of it.

"Well, first it means that there is a pair of wielders for each item, however they are united for one is light and the other dark, they are two parts of the same soul. The second four lines are kind of self-explanatory I believe. The next three speak of how there cannot be only one side, light or dark, also that the monsters that were sealed back in Egypt will help them fight my brother. The first of the last four lines is speaking of them bringing about the end of Zorc trying to destroy the world, the last part being that this battle has been physical and Mental, as you know, Korana," at this the girl nodded. "the last two lines speak of the souls trapped in the items, you see, it is up to your brother, Korana, to release them but he needs his real name which Zorc has conveniently forced him to forget."

"This is all great, goddess, but I do not know how it effects us, we are unable to do anything in this state," Korana replied still as polite as she had been before.

"That is what I am here for," she told us and then looked at us in the eyes. "I take it both of you wish to help your brothers."

"Yes, we would love to," we said in unison and then looked at each other and smiled reassuringly trusting in the other to help.

"I was hoping you would say that," she informed us with a smile on her face. "There is a way that I can allow you to help your brothers and the others that are mentioned in his prophecy but it might take a while."

"We will do anything," we said in unison again. This time we chuckled a bit at how we were doing that. I could see Korana's dark eyes shining with hope and I was sure mine were too.

"Very well then, I shall allow you to help your brothers and the others. However, I can only help one of you, this does not mean that you have to choose however. I have found a small loophole. You see, if you two merge together as one then you will be able to work together to help them out. Just like the wielders must do," Horakhty told us and we looked at each other.

"Amane, you are youngest, let me merge with you, I will become your darkness and you can be my light," Korana told me and I nodded in agreement.

"Let's do it then," I said and we turned to the goddess. She nodded and waved her hand over us. I felt weird and soon we started to glow. Then Korana seemed to merge with my body.

"Amane, Korana, you can speak with each other in your mind, but know this, since part of your soul is still trapped in the items you are not as powerful as you would be when released, Korana, you may not be able to take over," she told us and we nodded. I could feel Korana in the back of my head but I didn't mind. "One more thing, you may need to change form to that of a Ka - I hope Korana has explained that to you and if she hasn't she will - however, this will be your form." She handed me a card with the words "Messenger of Light" on it and a picture of a white wolf with bird wings.

"I would be happy to explain Ka but I cannot explain shifting into forms," Korana said as she appeared beside me.

"I am aware of that, when the time comes you will know how. For now though," she said and she waved her hand over me again. I started to glow as Korana entered my body again. "I now name you my messenger and guardian of the realm of spirits."

"Wow," I said as my clothes changed. My hair grew longer and gold streaks streaked through my hair. I looked kind of Egyptian actually. "But, what does this mean?"

"Well, this is the realm of Spirits, you are only here to be around, you command this place a bit which will help you in the future. As for the other thing, well, you will just have to be around. I can only be summoned by the chosen Pharaoh when he knows his name and fuses the god cards so I need you to be there to just help out."

"Both of us are grateful for this change and will perform any task you ask of us to the best of our abilities," Korana said as I just nodded in agreement.

"Very well then, I shall contact you when you are needed," she told us and we nodded and then turned to each other with bright smiled on our faces.

(End Flashback)

"We were then called back to help Bakura and then to come and help you all out to save the world," I finished and I looked at Bakura.

"You... met... my... sister?" he asked and I nodded. I could see in his eyes what he wanted so I felt deep inside myself.

_"Korana, Kora, do you think you can come out. I think your brother wants to see you, if you want to see him that is,"_ I thought and I felt her stir in my mind.

_"I have enough energy for a little chat, it would be longer with the items but they will be found," _she told me and I nodded and then turned to Bakura.

"Do you want to talk to her?" I asked and he looked at me. It took him a little bit but then he nodded and I felt Korana push through.

**Bakura's POV**

I watched as Amane changed in front of me. It was almost hard to believe that she knew my sister but I couldn't really deny it. I could barely speak but she asked if I wanted to talk to her. She changed in front of me. Her skin going a bit darker and her hair going black. Her eyes darkened and I knew. "Korana."

"It is good to see you too, Bakura, however, I'm afraid this talk has to be quick, I don't have much energy right now," she told me and I was disappointed.

"I love you," I said and I didn't know where it had come from. I leaped out of my seat and tackled her into a hug which she returned.

"I love you too, brother," she replied but our little family reunion was cut short by the airship shaking violently. "No!"

"It's Zorc isn't it?" I asked and she merely nodded as Amane took back control and all the Yami pushed their Hikari behind them, well all but the Pharaoh since his leg as damaged.

"Why don't we just merge with our Hikari, that way they will be protected, and if that prophecy is right we will be stronger," Akane suggested and we all nodded. We barely had time to merge when Kaiba scowled.

"We've lost all control of the ship, prepare for an emergency landing," he told us with a sigh. I growled as I knew it was safer for all of us to strap ourselves in.

**This was fun. Korana does not belong to me she is actually the property of the person who made Mayve and Vensisillie but she fit and it was fun. I wasn't going to have that happen but I felt it was more fun that way. I was telling myself I wasn't going to make a prophecy for this story but it came and it worked, though this one doesn't rhyme but I don't think it really has too even if most of them tend to.**


	13. The Hunt is On!

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**Chapter 13: The Hunt is on!**

"Yami, what are you doing?" I heard Malik ask. All the Yami were in control as we headed towards the ground. Or at least I hoped there was ground underneath us or we would land in the middle of the ocean and that would not be fun.

"Trying to get help," Yami replied. I looked over at him and I frowned. I knew that summoning was alright now seeing as Zorc knew where we were now. I doubted there was much need for secrecy anymore. Even so, it seemed Yami was trying to get the help of one of the gods, he didn't have the energy for that!

"It's too risky, you don't have enough energy!" Malik replied and I met his eyes and then the eyes of the other Yami.

"Let's all lend our power to him," I needlessly suggested and there were nods. We reached over to each grab onto each other creating a small circle and we focused feeling our magic pool into the card that Yami was holding and we could feel the power of the god inside the card.

"Slifer, come aid us!" we called in perfect unison and I wondered if it would work. My answer came in a loud roar and the plane being steadied. I knew that Slifer probably couldn't carry the plane for too long, we didn't have enough energy to sustain him for that long. We had to land and he seemed to understand that. Our other monsters - looking pathetically small when compared to Slifer - circled the plane blasting anything that came close to the plane.

"Way to go," Joey said as he noticed the red scales of the great god dragon that belonged to Osiris who was - perhaps ironically - the god of the dead.

"Yeah, but we can't keep this up for too much longer," Yami replied for the group as we felt our energy slipping. I had to give him credit, it did take a lot to summon the gods. I was a bit worried though. If we depleted all our energy with this then we would have to let our Hikari out in order to rest up. That was never a good thing so I wanted to stop but I knew we had to keep it up.

"You can tell Slifer to let go now, we're almost to the ground," Kaiba's voice came as almost a blessing to all of us as we sighed and dismissed the dragon. I fell back in my seat panting, I hadn't even noticed that I had started to sweat a bit. I heard the others as they seemed to have realized that they too were a bit tired.

"Well, the good news: we're alive. The bad news: Where the hell are we?" Joey asked and we looked outside. It seemed we'd landed in the middle of unfamiliar territory and we needed to find out where we were.

"This is France," Akane replied simply. How she knew that I would never find out but at that point I didn't care.

"We need to get out of here and fast," Mokuba told them but I noticed the slight flaw in that plan and I looked at Yami.

"I'd love to oblige, but unfortunately Yami is not in walking condition," I reply and Amane stood up. I had almost forgotten she was still in the plane. She walked over to Yami and her hand started to glow and I watched in (though I would never admit it out loud) awe as his leg healed. It seemed, too, that she was giving us some more strength which we needed.

"Thank you, Amane," he said and she nodded as he stood and smiled at us as we all did as well. We then left the plane and it wasn't a moment too soon. For Sky had just jumped out of the plane (with Venus in her arms) and then the thing went up in flames.

"Just great, how are we supposed to find the items now?" Malik complained annoyed as he looked at the plane. I could tell that - although he was irritated - he was slightly entranced by the flames. Marik's Yami was a Pyromaniac... wonderful.

"Don't worry, I can get us another ride, I can speak French," Temara replied with a smile and Kaiba smirked too.

"And I'm still Seto Kaiba," he said and we knew that meant that he always carried around a check book and he could write out as many large checks as needed. Sometimes I wondered if he had more money than he really knew what to do with.

"Good, then what are we waiting for?" Malik asked. I was thinking that he was excited to get the Rod back.

"Even if we find a way to fly again Zorc can still do the same thing, not to mention that we have no idea where to start looking for the items," Rakknar informed us and we stopped to think about that fact.

"Oh Ra damn it all!" I cursed and I heard Malik and Yami echo (in more, or less, colourful ways) my statement.

"Amane, do you know anything about where they are?" Mayve asked the younger girl who shook her white hair in response.

"Sorry, I really wish I did though," she replied as we stood there in the middle of a very unpopulated part of France. It wasn't the kind of place you thought of when you thought of France.

"Hey, look at this," Joey said as he found something on the ground. It looked like a piece of paper and there was probably writing on it. "Wait a second, I can't actually read this."

"What's wrong with it?" Kaiba asked as he took the paper from Joey's hand only to stop as he tried to read it. clearly it wasn't working as Malik grabbed it and then it went to Yami. I finally had enough of it being passed around and took it for myself. I saw why they had issues but unlike them I could read what was written there.

"It says: If you seek the items you will have to search in the Ancient. If you wish to find two then to a place of suffering you must venture. For three you must remember the past and return to the beginning. For one you must search in a place of eternal rest. Only when the others are found will the last one be revealed," I read out and they all looked at each other with different looks on their faces as we all tried to work out what it meant.

"First of all, how the hell were you the only one who could read that, and second, what the hell is that all supposed to mean?" Malik asked impatiently.

"I could read it and you guys couldn't because of the fact that this isn't in a form of Ancient Egyptian you would be familiar with. It is a form of code that thieves would use. It was a way of communicating without others finding out what we were saying. Which simply means that Zorc is toying with us. He wants us to search for the items and he's playing with us," I reply.

"Wonderful," Yami said sarcastically and I had to agree with him on that one. It wasn't going to be easy, but then again, nothing ever was.

"Well, the Ancient might refer to Ancient Egypt meaning that we have to head back to Egypt," Akane supplied I nodded as that made sense.

"Alright, so we know that the items are split up into three, well, technically four locations and we can only find the last one after we've found the others," Joey summarized. "And the only thing we think we know is that we're heading to Egypt."

"Pretty much, then again, how much do you want to bet that it is the Puzzle that we will find last," Malik replied sarcastically as we looked at each other.

"Wait though, eternal rest would mean that the person is basically dead, which means that we would need to go into a tomb or something," Sky told us.

"There is only one issue; there are countless numbers of tombs in Egypt, it would almost be impossible to know which one," Mayve replied.

"Or maybe not, I would bet anything that one of them is in the Pharaoh's tomb," I reply getting a bit excited. "Which also means that we can find your name while we're at it."

"Yeah, but we still need yours, Bakura, besides, we don't know where the others are," Yami replied though he did seem happy to possibly get his old name.

"Couldn't the place of suffering be the tomb that my Hikari grew up in?" Malik asked and we looked at each other.

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense actually, so one of them is in Pharaoh's tomb and two of them are in the tomb that Marik grew up in," Mokuba summarized this time (I think he was just trying to get into the conversation). "So where are the last three?"

"Wait a second, I thought Marik said he grew up in the Pharaoh's tomb?" Joey asked and we looked at Malik to explain.

"Not completely, we never lived in the official tomb, just near it. It was sort of like they had dug out "living quarters" after the fact," Malik replied.

"Then again, as Mokuba asked, where are the others?" Rakknar asked after the information sunk in. Yami and I looked at each other and then I nodded.

"Kul Elna," I reply simply and they all looked at me. "Which may be the only place we could possibly find my name."

"Alright, so first we get to Egypt, then where do we go first?" Mayve wanted to know as we walked around to find a city or something.

"Let's go to the tomb-keepers place first, then we can head off to the Pharaoh's tomb since it's closer and then we head off to Kul Elna. Plus, if Zorc comes at us after we get the six then we would rather have it in a more open area than a tomb," Malik suggested.

"Besides, I would rather not have to fight in a tomb," I knew Joey was trying to be funny to lighten the mood but I still glared at him a bit for the comment.

"I wonder which item we'll find where," Sky said as she skipped along. At times she seemed like an eight year old and other times she didn't. "And why haven't you changed back yet, Amane?"

"It's actually easier to maintain this form right now," she replied. I almost forgot she was still there and not in her Ka form.

"Well, since Marik's family was the guardian of the Rod and Necklace they should be there, possibly. Knowing that the Ring, Scales and Key would still be in Kul Elna which would put the eye in the Pharaoh's tomb, but knowing Zorc that won't be it at all," I reply. "There is no way we can know until we get there."

"I'm actually going to see a real tomb?" Mokuba asked and I turned to him. I ended up walking backwards for a bit.

"Tombs are nothing to play around in, kid, they are very dangerous and if you don't know what you are doing, deadly," I reply. I was calm but I knew there was a hint of malice in my voice. I didn't mean to be mean it was just that I had to be serious about this.

"Yes, and you're not going down one," Kaiba said looking down at his little brother who looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"But Seto," he complained and I saw him add the lower lip to the equation. Reason number two that Kaiba had a stick up his ass: he had to make sure he could resist the puppy-dog eyes.

"Here we are, finally though I think we're going to have to find a bigger place so that we can get a plane," Akane stated.

"Do we have to take a plane, can't we take a boat or something. I mean, Marik took a boat from Egypt to Domino and we really don't like planes," Malik complained.

"Boats would take longer," Kaiba replied. "I can call one of the people in my company in order to pick us up."

"Even though I admit that boats are a bit slower, I think Malik might be right. Zorc knows we can fly and so he might not expect us to take a boat," I reply. "We have to think like a game. A game we desperately need to win."

"Then wouldn't it be better to get this over with as fast as possible," Kaiba replied though his response was in the form of a question I knew it was a statement.

"No, sometimes the fast route is not the right one. Plus we need more time so we can plan better. Right now all we have is where we are going and nothing else. We can't fight off of destination alone," I respond and he seemed to sigh in understanding.

"Fine I will have a boat come and pick us up, Kaiba Corp. has connections all over the world," Kaiba said. It was lucky, then, that we had found our way to a nice town near one of the coasts of France. Akane had started up a conversation in French with some of the locals and I ignored them.

"Bakura," I looked down in surprise to see Mokuba looking up at me and I wondered what he could possibly want. I wondered if he had given up on going into the tomb.

"What is it?" I asked him as I sighed. I had nothing better to do but if he started to complain then I wouldn't listen. I wouldn't solve his family issues.

"What's it like in tombs, I mean, what kinds of traps do they have?" he asked. I looked at Kaiba who was on his phone.

"It all depends on the tomb really. Then again, are you sure your brother wants me to tell you what kinds of things you could find?" I asked him.

"Well, it's not like I'm going in one, is it?" he asked and I wondered if he was up to something or if he was genuinely curious.

"More common ones are hidden blades, they can be anywhere, in walls, coming out of the roof, or even the floor. Or a mix of those. To be really honest, those Egyptian movies aren't too bad in their portrayal of tombs though usually they are much harder to get into, then again, that depends on where you are going and how far you are willing to venture," I respond thinking of some of my more interesting heists, though I wouldn't tell him about those.

"Let's go everyone," Kaiba called us and we all headed to see what we would be riding to Egypt. It wasn't a giant Cruise ship though I suspected Kaiba was still thinking about speed more than class.

"Well, off to Egypt again," Malik said absently as we all piled into the boat. The monsters that were on our side flew around us. I was sure that there would be trouble all around us. We weren't out of danger and I was thinking that Zorc wouldn't give us a clue if he didn't want us to come so something was waiting for us in each location and we would have to fight for it.

"I have booked us into a hotel," Kaiba told us as we moved quite fast through the water. "Mutt, I think you, Mokuba and I should stay behind."

"I think that is a good idea," Yami agreed even if it looked like both boys would protest at great length about how unfair it was, more Joey than Mokuba though.

"But Yugi," Joey replied turning to the Pharaoh. I was sure - as one of his best friends - Joey could tell that it wasn't Yugi he was talking too.

"Joey, you, Mokuba and Kaiba could be more use back in the hotel, besides, this is something we must do, you might just get hurt," Yami replied and I knew that part of him was saying it because Yugi wanted him too.

"Yes, at least this way we know you're safe. We'll leave Kisara and red-eyes... we really have to give him a name... with you guys and you'll be fine," Malik said simply.

"Pharaoh," Amane said looking at Yami who inclined his head to say he was listening. "It would be better to take as few monsters as you can. You will need your decks but I fear there will be shadow games ahead."

"Then I'll call back Necrofear, why don't you call back Mana, then we only have Mahad and Diabound to think about," I stated and Yami seemed to agree with me.

"Mana, thank you for your help," he says and she waves before vanishing back into him. I could see that he was still a bit tired from summoning Slifer. I knew it took some energy out of all of us but him the most.

"Dark Necrofear, thank you for your help," I said with a bit of a smirk. I felt getting her on our side was a sign of our own power and a blow to Zorc. It proved Ryou's inner strength and showed that we can turn the tables of battle if we tried. Then again, now we only had two monsters (not including Amane) to guard seven (unless you counted Amane) people.

"Won't we get special monsters too?" Sky asked. I could see some of the eight year old in her coming out but at the same time her eyes glowed with a determination and courage that wasn't usually in one so young.

"You will have to make your own deck but as for your special creature - be this your Ka or just a monster that you connect with - will be revealed to you after you get your item," Amane told them and the other four nodded to say they understood what she had just told them.

"Here we are," the person who had been driving the boat said after a few hours of travel, and pointless talking. Though some of that was also taken up with strategy. And Yami finally admitting that my hobby could come in handy!

"Home, sweet home," Malik said his voice dripping with sarcasm as we climbed out and stood in Egypt. We got into a bunch of cars and headed to the hotel that Kaiba had set up for us.

"Personally, I think we should take one day to rest up a bit and then we will start our little retrieval mission tomorrow," Yami suggested.

"I second that notion," Malik cheered and there were relative amounts of responses among the group but all were in assent to what was proposed. We needed it too. After all, we had used a lot of energy and something told me we would need all the energy we could get for tomorrow.

**Yay! The climax... well, not yet but soon. I got a really nice review so I really wanted to write this. The thing about where the items were was random and then it just worked out so perfectly. I love when writing does that to you!**


	14. Duel with the Dead

**The True Meaning of Shadow**

**I wasn't going to do this but I am now going to add duels to this, It will be fun but I am not the one writing the duels so I hope you like it and thank my duel writer for part of this chapter since it is not all my work.**

**Chapter 14: Duel with the Dead**

**(Marik's POV)**

"Wake up!" I groaned as my pillow felt so soft and my blanket so warm. I didn't want to get up. I felt two hands shake me but I wanted to sleep forever in this bed. "Marik, Marik you have to wake up."

"I don't want to," I replied but the shaking only increased as the person tried harder to get me up. "Fine, I'm up."

"Good, now get dressed, we have to go save the world," I sighed as Ryou had a valid point. I saw Yugi in the room as well. I knew we had to save the world but right now I just wanted to sleep.

"Alright, can you two get out so I can get dressed,' I asked and the two boys nodded. They were already dressed. "Malik, you up?"

_"Yes Marik, I'm up, it seems we can talk mentally now that we have merged again,"_ Malik told me as I got dressed. _"I wonder if the others know yet."_

_"I'll tell them,"_ I reply as I pull on my shirt. I notice my scars in the mirror and I almost feel like punching it. They say time heals all wounds... I don't believe it one bit! Time heals some things but some wounds will never go away. I will have these memories until these scars fade, and that would never fade so I will be stuck with this my whole life.

I walked out of my room and met up with the others. They all seemed awake so I sighed as I was the last one. I sat down at where the breakfast was and started to eat with them. "You should just be glad Joey didn't eat it all," Yugi teased.

"I never thought you'd be one for teasing," I reply through mouthfuls of cereal. "By the way, did you guys notice that we can talk to our Yami in our heads again.

"I can't believe I didn't notice that," Yugi said a bit shocked as he tested it out. Ryou did the same and the others followed suit. "I guess it's because we merged again."

"Malik says so too," I admit and Ryou nodded to say he agreed. The others seemed to agree too but it was no surprise that they didn't completely know what was going on. They did seem to be slightly new to the whole thing.

"Well, you know what I say, the sooner we get to this the sooner we can kick Zorc's ass all the way back to the shadow realm," Mae said smacking her fist into her hand.

"I agree," Vensisillie replied as she stood up. The others agreed and I did too. I could feel Malik gear up for what was about to come.

"Let's do this then," Yugi replied as we smiled. We left Kaiba, Mokuba and Joey in the suite as the seven of us walked out into the Egyptian day. We went to get some cars even if none of us were old enough to drive. We didn't really trust any drivers even if it seemed that Zorc wanted us to come and get the items.

"Ok, even we aren't legal who can drive?" Temara asked the group as we got one car for us to drive to our destinations.

"I'm legal, in Japan, but I don't think we should trust Marik driving," Ryou said. I could tell he was teasing me but I still scowled.

"I'm not that bad, it's my fault your Yami ran right in front of me when driving my motorcycle," I retorted and Ryou just grinned at me.

"I know," he replied but he still got into the driver's seat. Because I was the only person who could find the tomb-keepers home I sat in the passenger seat and gave him directions. The others were mostly silent for the ride. It was almost a little uncomfortable.

"Wait a second," I said as I noticed there were some members of the group missing. "Where are Amane and the monsters?"

"Amane says we have to do this leg of the journey on our own, she will return to help us when the time is right," Yugi replied as I saw a look cross Ryou's face, I knew he was upset about his sister. "As for the monsters, they're around, well, Diabound and Dark Magician are around."

"Oh," I reply simply as we drove across the sand. The fact that it was so quiet and we hadn't been attacked worried me more than if we had a swarm of monsters coming from every side. It was as if we were walking straight into a trap, but we hardly had a choice. The only way to defeat Zorc was to get the items so we had to play along for now.

"Are we almost there?' Rayne asked as she looked out the window a part of her childish side coming out at that moment.

"Almost," I reply looking for a landmark I knew was there. We soon arrived at our destination and we all stepped out of the car. I led the way towards the entrance to the underground passageways where I had lived half my life.

**"So you finally made it,"** I was glad to see that I was not the only one who jumped at the voice that suddenly spoke to us. I could almost feel Yami Bakura's anger and somehow I knew that this was Zorc. It seemed I wasn't the only one.

"You're Zorc aren't you?" Mae asked with some determination. I gave her credit for her bravery, even if I would have done it if she hadn't.

**"Yes, I am Zorc. Now, you are about to enter a new game and here are the rules. You must win in your own matches. If you were to succeed you would get one of the items, however, lose and you will be mine forever,"** Zorc told us. We looked at each other and I noticed the fire burning in all our eyes.

"We accept the terms of your game," we said in unison as we took another step towards the entrance of my old home.

**"One last thing, we can't have any interference so...,"** I could feel something tugging at my soul and I knew the others were feeling it too. **"... I don't need your, what did you call them? Yami? To duel for you, they will not be able to help you, if you lose they will also be mine, so not only are you fighting for yourself, you are fighting for them too."**

"You don't get it do you? We were not fighting for ourselves. We're fighting for the world!" Temara replied even as we could all see the seven Yami appear in front of us before suddenly vanishing. I felt slightly hollow as if a part of me was gone. And that was true, a part of me was gone. But I would get it back! We all would.

Added to that I heard a roar from above and we looked up to see Diabound and Dark Magician vanish. Of course! They were connected to Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi so with them missing, the monsters couldn't help us.

**"Whatever you say, you will not win!"** he laughed at us. I growled and stormed to the entrance of the cave and pulled open the doors. I led the way through the corridors of my old home.

"So where are we going exactly?" Vensisillie asked me as I stopped for a bit to think about that question because it was a very good one.

"Let's assume that the Rod is here, and that you, Marik, will wield the Rod. Let's also assume that Zorc is trying to psych us out. Therefore it would most likely be in a place that you would have issues with," Temara replied logically.

"I think I have an idea now," I replied and didn't answer their questioning looks. I didn't want to right now. I could be wrong, and if I was I'd rather not think about it. I walked down a few passageways knowing very well where I was going. The others followed me until I stopped in front of a specific door. I looked at it as if merely touching it would bring back the old memories. The others didn't speak. We had all gotten to know each other and our pasts over the time we had spent together. I stood there just staring at the door not moving at all. One thing broke me out of what could be described as a trance. It was a scream!

It was Malik! I growled again and, with the strength that had seemed to not exist a moment ago, I flung open the doors to the room where I had received the tomb-keeper's initiation. I entered the room, the others a few steps behind me. I noticed Malik tied down on the table, there was blood all over his back and I wondered how much torture he had been through in this short amount of them. Then my logical side thought it would be best if I didn't know. Then again, there had to be someone who was doing this to him. I looked around and when I noticed the other person my breath stopped for a second.

"hello again, Marik," It couldn't be him! Malik killed him! It couldn't be! He was dead! I saw it! His back carved off! The Rod was stained with his blood! How could he be here! No! It couldn't! It wasn't! My father!

"You, you did this? How are you alive?" I asked fury and pain in my voice. The man who had carved the scars onto my back, the man who had sentenced me to a life underground.

"Well, he deserves to pay for what he's done," he replied cracking a whip and I heard Malik hiss in pain and rage at the blow. "As for your second question, Zorc has brought me back in order to defeat you in a duel, son."

"I have no choice," I replied. I thought I heard some of them gasp but I didn't care! I couldn't take this! Memories swarmed in my head! I realized then how much Malik did for me. How much he really kept away. MY back itched as if it was going to hurt me at any moment and I wanted to scream but I knew I couldn't. I... had... to... be... strong!

**(Narrator's POV)**

The duel between father and son had started; the tension in the air was thick… Marik could hardly breathe, as he had to think. _Is this really my Dad? _Both duellists activated their duel disks and called out. "Duel!"

Marik drew first… he looked to his hand and sighed. "I set one monster card in defence, and I set to more cards… I end." He said all of that as calmly as possible, feeling the pressure from repressed memories build up inside him.

"What a pathetic start. Well, I wouldn't expect any less from you." Mr, Ishtar said in a low, taunting tone. He drew a card from his deck, as Marik flinched a little from his insult. "I start of by playing Necrovalley." He said this, as he slid the card into the duel disk. Necrovalley took the field, turning it into a dusty and ancient valley; very much like the ones of Egypt. "I now summon Grave keepers Spear!" He cried out, as he summoned his monster. (1500Atk. 1000def.) "Thanks to Necrovalley, he gains an extra 500 attack points "

Marik didn't really react, all he said was. "G-go on," in a slightly shaky voice.

Mr Ishtar pointed at Mariks face down monster, as he said in a dark voice. "My Grave keeper takes out your monster!" Spear lunged at Mariks monster.. the card flipped up to reveal it to be: Grave Squimer. (0Atk 0Def) "Gravekeeper Spear's effect kicks in, if it attacks a Defence Position monster, the deference is dealt to your life points." Mr Ishtar told Marik, chuckling darkly.

Marik growled. "Damn…" Spear destroyed Grave Squirmier, sending a shock wave at Marik. He was launched back. "Argh!" He grunted, as he hit the ground; his life points dropping from 4000 to 2000. Marik managed to pick himself up. He looked to the man claiming to be his late father, breathing heavily. He smirked. "Grave Squirmier has a little ability of its own… When he's destroyed by battle, I can destroy one card on the field! Good bye Necrovalley!" He called out, as the valley shrank away, turning the room back to normal.

Mr Ishtah sighed lightly, as he set two cards face down. "I end my turn; only you would pull of a cheap trick. You where never really a good son."

Marik twitched a little, getting a little angry now. "Just shut up! You where an useless excuse for a father, who kept us locked away in a damp, sad cave!"

Mr Ishtar shook his head, as he said. "You where to young to see that I was trying to keep you safe, now I believe it's your turn."

Marik was almost making growling noises. He drew a card from his deck and smirked. "I summon Dark Jeroid. His ability decresses your spears attack by 800 points. Now, my Jeroid attacks!" Dark Jeroid destroyed his spear, dropping Mr Ishtar's life points down to 3500. Marik set one card in the spell trap zone, ending his turn.

Mr Ishtar drew a card and grinned, as he revealed the grave keeper Commandant; he told Marik. "I can discard him, to add on Necro Valley from my deck… to my hand." He took one Necrovalley from his deck and activated. The field returned back into the valley from before. He smirked as he summoned another monster. "I summon The Gravekeeper Curse.. he has a little ability, you lose 500 points of damage when he is summoned!" Marik grunted, feeling the life being drained from him. "I now end my turn." Mr Ishtar said, with a little smirk.

Marik looked to him, as he drew a card. _H-how can he still be alive… no, I can't let myself get distracted. _He thought to himself, still in shock. "I-I summon Goblinbergh in attack position. (1400Atk 0Def.) He's ability allows me to special summon one Level 4 or lower monster from my hand, to the field." Marik summoned Chiron the Mage. "I can discard one spell or trap card, to allow me to destroy one spell or trap on the field." Marik's concerned frown turned to a little smirk. "I discard my card destruction, to destroy your Necro valley."

Mr Ishtar shook his head. "I think not, I play Dark bribe… I negate its effect, allowing me to draw one card. Now I play intimidating roar. You cannot attack this turn."

Marik huffed, as he said. "I end my turn."

Mr Ishtar drew a card, as he smirked. "I tribute my Grave keeper Curse, for Grave keepers Visionary! (2000Atk 1800Def)" Visionary rose from the card, making the field seem all that more tense. "He gains 200Atk from every Grave keeper monster from my Graveyard! I have 4 in my Graveyard…." Visionay's attack rose to 2800. "Now then, My visionary attacks your Mage!" Marik flinched, as his monster was destroyed, as the shock wave from the blast hit him… he life points dropped to 500. Mr Ishtar laughed. "Look at you, you're still the pathetic child you where years ago." He taunted, darkly.

Marik was standing, barely; his legs shaking. "H-how can you still be alive? You're dead… my dark side ended you."

Mr Ishtar laughed. "The Darkness can create ones worst nightmares! I live through your memories… and no matter how hard you try. You can never destroy a memory."

Marik's eyes lit up with a boil rage, almost bubbling with a searing madness. "A memory, huh?" He drew a card from his deck and smirked. "A memory can't be destroyed. But, it can be forgotten. And I intend to forget you! But first, I'm going to beat you now!"

Mr Ishtar scoffed, as he said. "I don't think so… you're losing."

Marik shook his head, as he revealed his face down. "I play call of the haunted, bringing back my Grave squirmier." Grave Squirmier returned to the field. "But, he won't be here for long; I tribute all 3 of my monsters!" Marik's monster vanished into the grave; a new, powerful monster emerged. "I summon The Wicked Dreadroot!" The Wicked Dreadroot rose from the card, towering over everyone in the room. (4000 Atk. 4000 Def.)

Mr Ishtar looked up at it, scared to his stomach. "H-how do you have a powerful monster like that?"

Marik chuckled lightly, as he looked up to Dreadroot. "Simple, I expanded out and was able to get new… more powerful resources. Same a fool like you couldn't understand such a concept." He pointed to Visionary. "Dreadroot halves the attack of all other monsters… meaning Visonary is on 1400 Attack points." As Marik said, Visonary's attack dropped. Dreadroot cracked its knuckles, as it prepared to attack. Mr Ishtar looked up to the Dread root, speechless with fear. "Now! Attack his Visionary and end this pathetic memory!" Dreadroots fist crashed down onto Visionary, destroying shock wave his Mr Ishtar… knocking him to the ground.

His life points dropped to zero… He mumbled under his breath. "H-how is this possible?" As he faded slowly into the shadows.

"Marik you did it!" Yugi cheered and the gang ran up to hug their friend. He smiled as he hugged them back for a bit.

"I feel so free," Marik commented as he spotted the Millennium Rod glinting on the floor of the cave. He walked over and picked it up. There was a groan and they turned to look at Malik. Marik walked over to his darker half and cut him free.

"I think it would be best if you merged, you could let him rest," Ryou suggested and I nodded. The Yami let go of his body and entered his spirit mode. then he entered his Hikari who shuddered a bit expecting the pain. When it didn't come he looked at his friends.

"Well then, shall we continue?" the blond asked as they heard a roar as if Zorc knew that they were now had one of the Millennium items, there was no time to celebrate though because they still had six to go.

**I hoped you all liked it. We are still getting used to the duels so that is why it seems like it is not the best but I think it was good. I think there might have been a bit of a discrepancy between Marik's thoughts but I don't really know, also, I don't think I catch his personality that well.**


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